


Another Life

by sunsetsoverwater



Category: Haven - Fandom
Genre: F/M, Mystery, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-30
Updated: 2015-08-04
Packaged: 2018-03-04 10:29:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 30
Words: 100,597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3064460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunsetsoverwater/pseuds/sunsetsoverwater
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ten years have passed since Audrey walked into the Barn and things didn't go quite as planned on that fateful day. Now she finds herself facing the unexpected return of the Troubles, with the stakes even higher than before.<br/>A.U. Nathan/Audrey</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Intro

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Totally don't own these characters, or this world. I just like to be a part of it.
> 
> Author's Note: We're starting out short on this one, but I have a whole story planned out, and will be doing weekly updates on it.

"Audrey! Audrey! Are you still there? Audrey…I don't know what to say."

She could barely hear Duke's frantic voice coming from her phone, now lying under the bed - its final resting place after being dropped from her stunned fingers. Her whole world had gone numb. She knew this day would eventually come, but had always hoped it never would. She had always assumed when/if it came, she and Nathan would just pick up where they had left off all those years ago, and once again figure things out. Even though it was a constant dread in the far corners of her mind, she always knew it would eventually be ok. Never in a million years did she think that this was how she'd find out. But, it was, and she needed to pull herself together and fix it. Just like she always did.

The Troubles were back. 

And her daughter was currently fighting for her life in the hospital.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Totally don’t own these characters, or this world. I just like to be a part of it.
> 
> Author’s Notes: This chapter starts right at that pivotal scene from “Thanks for the Memories”. Then, it goes completely A/U from there. 
> 
> Thanks as always to my beta. If it weren’t for her, this would make way less sense than it does now.
> 
> Also, I'm going to stick to a Tuesday posting schedule for new chapters, but if my beta gets in a chapter early, I'll post it early. Like this one.

10 years ago on that fateful day at the Barn

Audrey turned from Duke and silently blew out a breath. There was still one more goodbye to give - the most difficult goodbye. She began walking towards Nathan, who started moving to meet her halfway, already shaking his head.

_“Parker, if we…”_

She cupped his face in her hands and kissed him with everything she had before he could get another word out. She wrapped her arms around his neck to draw him close, and could feel him hugging her even closer. Even though the last thing she ever wanted to do was stop, she knew she had to pull away. Not quite able to let go though, Audrey rested her forehead against Nathan’s, and slowly sunk down off her toes.

She felt as though her heart was shattering into a million pieces as she could not only see, but feel Nathan shaking his head.

_“No. This is not goodbye.”_

Even before he moved his head, Audrey knew he was going to try something, and was already trying to pull him back before he even moved towards Agent Howard.

_“Take me with you.”_

_“No, Nathan, Nathan, I won’t be alone, alright? I’ll be with our son.”_

Nathan cradled her head in his hands, _“I am going to die before I let you go.”_

Audrey could feel the tears stinging her eyes, but she couldn’t let them fall. She couldn’t shatter here. Not in front of him. She had to be strong. She had to be brave. But it was too much. She couldn’t do it. The tears started to fall, and she knew her voice was going to shake. _“I know.”_ She looked into his soul, and could see his heart breaking right along with hers. In perfect sync. She knew it would kill him, but she had to do it. Grabbing Nathan’s gun, she spun around, out of his embrace and reached towards Duke, handing him the gun. _“Duke.”_

Nathan’s eyes widened in shock at what was happening. _“Audrey!”_

She could hear his heart breaking in his voice. She had betrayed him, and his shock was palpable, but she had to resist the urge to comfort him in that moment so she could explain. _“Make sure Nathan does not follow me in. Promise me.”_ Audrey stumbled towards Duke as she held Nathan at bay. She knew that if he tried any harder, she would break.

_“Audrey, don’t do this!”_

She could hear the utter betrayal and destruction in his voice. She could do this for him. She had to. _“Promise me that Duke!”_

_“I promise Audrey.”_

Audrey could barely keep Nathan back. She was starting to lose the battle.

_“Audrey, don’t do this!”_

Audrey walked away, knowing that Duke would hold Nathan back, and turned back towards him.

_“Twenty seven years Nathan. Then we’ll get to do it all over again.”_ All Audrey could see was her destruction mirrored in Nathan’s eyes. _“Goodbye.”_

Nathan began to struggle with Duke. _“We’re not letting her go in there.”_  

Duke had no choice but to raise the gun in Nathan’s face. _“Yes, we are.”_

Nathan stepped back, and for a brief moment, Audrey thought that maybe he finally understood. Maybe he was finally going to let her go. But then, he charged at Duke again, who did his best to reason with his friend, despite his own pain.

_“Listen! She is trying to help all these people. She is trying to help this town and it is her choice. It’s not yours. It’s not mine. I hate it. But it’s still her choice.”_

Nathan could only look into his friend’s eyes. Deep down he understood, and perhaps that’s why the fight left him, which gave him sudden clarity. _“You’re in love with her too.”_

Tears brimmed at Duke’s eyes as he was forced to admit to his one true friend what he was really feeling. Something he had vowed to never let him know. _“Yeah.”_

Even though Nathan knew what Duke’s response would be, it still incensed him, and his rage quickly returned. _“Then how can you let her go? Look at her. Look at her!”_

Duke slowly turned his head towards Audrey, and at that moment, Audrey was standing at the Barn door, and turned to look back at her boys. This was the last time she would ever see them as Audrey Parker. She wanted this moment to last forever.

But the moment was suddenly broken as Nathan overtook Duke for the gun, and she quickly opened the Barn door, slipping in as she heard Nathan shout.

_“Audrey, stop!”_

The door shut behind Audrey and she shut her eyes in anticipation of...whatever was supposed to happen.

She could hear thunderous bangs on the wall behind her. She took a step back and raised her hand to her mouth as tears streamed down her cheeks. She knew it was Nathan, and could tell by the sheer force of the bangs that he was throwing his body against the door. How it was staying closed, she would never know. Was she keeping it closed? Could she open it for him? No, he wasn’t supposed to be here. He was supposed to live his life in Haven. Not inside a Barn, where who knows what would happen to him.

And then, everything went silent.  
  
Her mind was reeling, and hundreds of thoughts and questions were racing through her mind. What was going to happen?

Would she experience 27 years in the Barn and remember it all?

What happened after 27 years?

Did someone come and do something to her? Or was it just kind of like sudden onset amnesia?

How did she get out of the Barn to wherever she starts from?

Was it going to hurt?

_Nathan._

Tears rolled down her face as she hugged herself, and all she could think was, it wasn't fair.  She hadn't done anything wrong. All she had done was come to a strange little town in Maine to help people, and she had fallen in love. Why was that a crime? What had she done to deserve this? Agent Howard had said it seemed like she was being punished for something. What was it? And why did she have to be punished? She didn’t do whatever it was to be punished. One of her other personas had done that, and there was nothing that Audrey Parker could have done to have stopped it.

Audrey sunk down to the floor and buried her head in her knees. She felt like a small child, thinking that life isn’t fair, which was ridiculous. She should be strong. But, if there was any time to be ridiculous, this was it. 

Why couldn't she have figured it out? Why had it been so hard? Why did she have to fight so hard for everything? Even if most of her memories weren't her own, they were still there, and they were a constant fight. A fight to survive the orphanage, a fight to get into the agency, a fight to be respected. Always a fight. 

The haunting lyrics to a song Audrey once heard broke into her thoughts.  
  
 _When you have no one, no one can hurt you._  
  
But she had someone. Someone she had tried to push away so that neither could be hurt when she left, but they had ended up back together anyway. It had almost felt like nothing could tear them apart. Nothing but a crappy destiny.

With her eyes closed, she thought back to the dance they had shared just a few days ago. It seemed like a lifetime ago. She could hear the Boyz II Men song playing, and could feel Nathan's warmth against her body as they moved to the song. The feeling of overwhelming safety that had enveloped her. Their lips had been so close to each other, but had never touched. Instead, they had been content to slowly sway to the music, oblivious to those dancing around them. To her, the only people in that room had been him and her. And as always, they were in sync. Her thoughts had been a blur between what could be between them, and who the killer was in the room. And, because she was hopeless, thoughts about the killer quickly beat out thoughts of a future with Nathan.

She silently cursed her need to solve the case they had been working on so quickly. But she was there to help people, dammit. So why couldn’t anyone help her?  
  
Her heart literally felt like it had shattered. Nothing in her life had prepared her for having to say goodbye forever to the people she cared about - the people she loved. She pressed her fingers to her lips, which still tingled from Nathan's touch. Why had she not told him she loved him? Why had she not taken him out for dinner? Why had she wasted even the briefest of her emotions with Duke? It was never going to be Duke. It was always going to be Nathan. But now, it wouldn’t even be Nathan.  
  
Will she remember him when she comes back? No, there's no way. She didn't remember the Chief, when Lucy clearly had spent a lot of time with him. She didn't remember Vince and Dave, when they were everything to Sarah. Sarah had loved Nathan though. Was that why as Audrey she was immediately drawn to him? Because she remembered him in some way? Maybe it would be different with Nathan. But would she want to remember him? He'd have lived a whole lifetime by the time she gets back, and she would only be forced to leave him again, and there's no way her heart could ever handle this break again.  
  
Her thoughts were driving her mad, and she felt as though barely any time had passed. What was going on? Is this what it was going to be for 27 years? Her sitting on the floor of an empty building with only her memories haunting her, slowly driving her insane? Maybe that's why she always woke up not remembering. Her mind had snapped each time, not being able to cope with the hurt. Maybe it was some kind of defense mechanism.  
  
How was she going to survive this?

And why was she alone in this barely lit, empty room? Where had the long white tunnels gone? At least those, while almost clinical in nature, had seemed warmer than this. This was just a dusty floor in a room that she was now realizing was so big she couldn’t even see the outer walls. Not even the room she had to have just entered from. The only light in the area seemed to be coming from somewhere overhead, but when she looked up to see its source, everything seemed to just fade into itself with no real definition.

Where had James gone?

Audrey pushed herself up off the ground and started moving away from the only spot that seemed safe in the room. Of course it wasn’t safe, but it was familiar, the only place she’d been in this new location, so by default, that made it safer than the rest of room.

“James?”

Her voice both echoed off the walls, and also fell flat.

“James!”

Audrey kept walking, and the light above her seemed to follow her, but no matter how many times she looked to see where it was coming from, she was only met with colors fading into each other. Sometimes she could make out dust particles floating through the beams of light, but those could have been a figment of her imagination. Much, if not everything she was seeing (or not seeing as the case may be), could be a figment of her imagination.

She stopped walking, and let out a deep sigh. She dropped her head back and shouted to whatever was above. “Why are you doing this to me? Why are you keeping the only other person in here away from me? Have you that little pity?” Maybe she would end up spending the next 27 years walking, always looking for James, but never finding him. She sighed, and dropped to the floor again. Walking was getting her nowhere, so she might as well abandon that for the moment.  
  
As she touched ground, a loud knocking boomed through the empty room, cascading off of hollow walls, shaking her to her core. "What the hell?"  
  
"Audrey!"  
  
Audrey leapt to her feet at the sound of her name, flipping her head from side to side trying to figure out where it was coming from.  
  
"Audrey! Are you in there? Audrey!"  
  
The pounding on the walls intensified, and Audrey laid her palms against the wall that was now visible and solid, and squinted her eyes. She knew her voice was going to come out shaky and watery, but she didn't care. She knew that voice.  
  
"Duke?"  
  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  



	3. Numb

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Totally don’t own these characters, or this world. I just like to be a part of it.
> 
> Author’s Notes: Heads up - we’re shifting back to where the Intro left off. There is going to be definite shifting between the future (where this story ultimately takes place) and the now. I’ll call it out each chapter in the A/N, but please let me know in the comments if you think there’s a better way for me to do it.
> 
> Thanks as always to my beta. If it weren’t for her, this would make way less sense than it does now.
> 
> Also, I'm going to stick to a Tuesday posting schedule for new chapters, but if my beta gets in a chapter early, I'll post it early. Like this one.

** Numb **

Audrey was dimly aware of the chaos happening around her, but inside she was weirdly calm. She knew she should probably be falling apart, but she was so numb that she couldn’t even bring herself to crumble. It was probably for the best that Nathan was at a conference in Portland, and wouldn’t get back for some time, because she was pretty sure that seeing him is what would cause her to break.

After her initial shock, she had managed to pick up the phone and have a semi-coherent conversation with Duke, convincing him that she could drive. She moved on auto-pilot as she worked her way around the house, packing a couple of bags of clothes for herself and Nathan, because she knew it would be awhile before either one of them would leave the hospital again.

The clothes she had on would have to do – as far as she could remember, the jeans had been washed fairly recently, and after pulling on a long sleeved shirt over her tank top and pulling her hair back in a ponytail, she figured she would be ok for at least 48 hours before having to change.

She called Peanut over after packing his bag, and clipped on his leash. “Come on Peanut. You’re going to stay next door for a little while.” The little miniature schnauzer wagged his tail so vigorously his whole body shook. At least someone was having a good day.

Audrey gathered up the bags for herself and Nathan, grabbed her purse and keys, did a final check of the house to make sure it could last for a while without being checked on, and closed the door behind her. She descended the couple of stairs from the porch to the gravel sidewalk, and crunched her way to the car parked in the driveway. She had to tug Peanut a few times, because he was just excited to be outside, but she managed to toss the bags in the trunk, and turned back to the little dog. She crouched down to Peanut’s level, and rubbed his head as he stood up on her knee. “Ok Peanut, you be a good boy, ok? I’ll come get you as soon as I can. Mrs. Fleming is going to take good care of you.”

Peanut wagged his tail as a response, and dropped back to the ground, spinning in a couple of circles in excitement.

“Come on Peanut.”

Audrey, tugged on the lease, and her dog trotted happily beside her, quickening his pace as he saw they were going next door. Thank god for Mrs. Fleming, Audrey thought. They were so lucky to have a neighbor like her who was willing to open her house on short notice for Peanut. She knew that Audrey and Nathan had demanding jobs that could sometimes keep them away for days, and had always volunteered to watch Peanut, saying that the little dog was fantastic company.

Audrey knocked on the bright red door, which she had heard meant “welcome” and had instantly stolen the idea and made Nathan paint their door the exact same color.

A plump older woman opened the door and broke out into a wide grin as she saw Audrey, and immediately squatted down to pet the little dog dancing at her feet. “Peanut! Oh, there’s my good boy. Are you here to visit for a while?” Mrs. Fleming picked Peanut up in her arms, and stood up.

Audrey noticed that even now, Mrs. Fleming was a good four inches shorter than herself, which was saying something, because she definitely wasn’t of average height, no matter how imposing she always tried to make herself. “Sorry for the late notice Mrs. Fleming. There’s been an…accident. I’m not too sure when Nathan and I will be back.” Audrey couldn’t bring herself to say exactly what the accident was, because she knew that once she vocalized it, it would become real, and that real feeling would come crashing through her numbness, and she needed Nathan to be around when that happened.

Mrs. Fleming patted Audrey’s arm. “Oh dear. I’m so sorry. You go and take care of what you need to, and Peanut will be safe here with me. We’ll do some baking together. Won’t we Peanut?” Mrs. Fleming rubbed noses with Peanut, and a faint smile crossed Audrey’s lips.

“Thank you so much again Mrs. Fleming. You can call me if you need anything.”

“Don’t you worry dear. I’ll be fine. You go. Fix it. If anyone can, it’s you.”

Tears started to well up in Audrey’s eyes, and she had to look away, biting her bottom lip to stop the tears from falling. She turned back, and tried to smile to keep up the façade for the moment that things were just the usual. “I’ll call when I can.”

On that, Audrey gave Peanut’s head a final rub, turned on her heels, and shuffled towards the car. As she pulled herself into the driver’s seat, she checked her phone before putting it in the cup holder beside her and noticed that she had several text messages from Nathan. She didn’t even read them before throwing the car in reverse to back out into the street. She knew if she did, she would start to break.

As she drove through the streets of Haven, she silently prayed to a god she didn’t even believe in. She felt like if there was any time to pray, this was it.

Much too soon, and yet, not soon enough, the giant yellow hospital rose into her view, and she turned into the ER parking lot. One good thing about a small town, and being a cop in a small town, is that everyone knew her car, and so no one would dare tow her, regardless of where she parked. She left the spot for emergency personnel open, because she knew that the old blue Bronco would be slamming into that very spot, very soon, and instead turned into a spot reserved for hospital employees.

Audrey got out of the car, and blew out a breath as she walked towards the emergency room doors. Once she crossed the threshold, she knew that she would be assaulted with sights, sounds, feelings, and decisions, and she had to steady herself.

“Here we go,” she muttered to herself.

And she was right. The moment the doors whooshed open in front of her, it began.

“Mrs. Wournos!”

“Detective Parker!”

“Audrey.”

Audrey looked from the nurse at the front desk, to the uniformed officer leaning against the wall who was now at full attention, and settled on Duke.

“Duke.”

Duke rushed up to her and pulled her into his arms. She could feel her resolve starting to crumble, and could feel tears running down her cheeks. “Take me to her.”

Duke didn’t want to let go – he could feel her body starting to shake, but he knew now that she was here, he needed to just do as she asked. He needed to be there for her, however she needed. Especially since her other half was still barreling down the highway to get here.

“She’s down here.”

Audrey was vaguely aware of the desk nurse trying to stop them. She surely needed Audrey’s signature on something, or needed valuable information. She didn’t seem familiar, so Audrey was sure that the nurse didn’t really know who Audrey was, and therefore didn’t fully know who the patient was. The uniformed officer however held her back, and Audrey could faintly hear their arguments as Duke led her down the hallway.

Her heart was thumping so loud, all she could hear was her own blood rushing between her ears. She wanted to be there already and never get there all at the same time. A parent’s worst nightmare is always living longer than their child, and Audrey was terrified that she would be soon living that nightmare. She had already lost one child she would barely know. She couldn’t survive losing one she had known for only 6 short years.

As they stopped in front of the glass doors to the ICU room, she felt her heart stop. Her hand flew to her mouth to stop the strangled gasp from escaping her lips, as she gripped Duke’s hand so hard that Duke would later need to have it checked for deep bruising. She ran to her daughter’s bed, and ghosted her hand over her forehead, and up and down the small girl’s body. Her eyes danced around to see where the injuries were, but couldn’t see anything other than Juliet’s face - her impossibly pale face. Audrey’s throat burned as she saw the breathing tube coming out of her baby girl’s mouth, and she brushed the blond curls away from her closed eyes. She collapsed into a chair that was suddenly behind her, keeping her one hand on Juliet’s forehead, while the other held tight to the little girl’s hand. “Duke,” she whispered. “What happened?”

Duke stood at the end of the bed, his fingers clutching at Juliet’s feet that were hidden beneath the blankets. His face looked as white as Juliet’s, and if it weren’t her daughter lying unconscious in that hospital bed, Audrey would be deathly worried about her friend. “It all happened so fast. We were out fishing, just like always. She was doing great.” A small smile ghosted along Duke’s lips, but it never reached his eyes. “She was taking a break, and was sitting on one of the tackle boxes and was telling me a joke. I guess she forgot where she was, and leaned back and lost her balance and fell into the water.”

“Duke, she’s a great swimmer. You’ve had her in the water since pretty much the moment she came out of me. I know she didn’t almost drown, so what happened?”

Duke’s eyes flicked to Juliet’s neck, which was covered with the blanket. Audrey took his cue, pulled the blanket down, and could see the large bandage covering half of the little girl’s neck. She felt sick.

“She was holding her fishing pole when she went in. The lure must have swung out and snagged her neck, and as she hit the water, it was pulled out. It went right through her artery. She didn’t feel it, Audrey. I had my eyes on her as soon as she hit the water, and she popped right up and started treading water, grinning at me like she always does. It took me a few moments to realize the water was red around her. I dove in right as she lost consciousness. I did all I could. She didn’t feel it.” His voice was edging on panic as he finished.

Audrey couldn’t decide what she was feeling in that moment. Intense anger that Duke could let something like this happen to Juliet? Intense relief that of all people, it had been Duke she was with when this happened? Intense exhaustion as the weight of the situation descended upon her? She laid her head down on the bed beside Juliet’s arm, trying to calm the swirling storm inside her head. She could feel Duke walk by her and out the door. He always did know when she just needed to think. And the one thought, the one emotion that was breaking through everything was one she didn’t want to deal with. But it was there all the same. Since Juliet couldn’t feel the lure tearing through her flesh, that meant she shared Nathan’s affliction. And if she was suddenly sharing that affliction, that meant that something had gone horribly wrong somewhere, and the Troubles were now, in fact, back. Which meant that her whole life was suddenly going to get a whole lot more complicated than it was now, and she wasn’t really sure there was anything more complicated than sitting in an ICU unit with your six year old child, who was clinging to life.

“Where is she?!”

Nathan’s voice broke through her reverie, and she lifted her head to look behind her to the hospital hallway. “Nathan!” She yelled out to him as she saw his lanky body rush past the door to the room.

Nathan skidded to a stop, and looked in at his two girls. He masked his shock by rubbing a hand down his face, but Audrey saw it. She always saw it. “Parker…what happened?” Nathan stood beside the chair Audrey was in and ghosted his hands up and down his little girl’s body, very similar to what Audrey had done, and tenderly touched the bandage on Juliet’s neck before pressing a kiss to her forehead.

Audrey sighed, and gripped Nathan’s hand that was closest to her. “She can’t feel it Nathan.”

Nathan straightened up, and pulled Audrey into his arms, holding her tight. He buried his face in her hair and spoke, his words coming out as a whisper. “I know. I can’t feel anything either.”

And that was it. Her resolve was broken, and sobs rattled through Audrey’s body. Her tears soaked through Nathan’s shirt, and it was only his arms that kept her upright. He brushed her hair and he held her close, trying to push what little strength he had into her. He pressed his lips to the top of her head, but he knew exactly what his wife was thinking. The Troubles were definitely back, and their first victim was his little girl.

\------------------------


	4. The Barn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Totally don’t own these characters, or this world. I just like to be a part of it.
> 
> Author’s Notes: Heads up - we’re shifting back to that scene at the Barn. 
> 
> There is going to be definite shifting between the future (where this story ultimately takes place) and the now. I’ll call it out each chapter in the A/N, but please let me know in the comments if you think there’s a better way for me to do it.
> 
> Thanks as always to my beta, who is more than willing to read SEVERAL versions of this to make sure it’s right.
> 
> Here’s the promised Tuesday update!

All hell was breaking loose, and the weather only added to it. What had only moments before been an extremely windy day, had turned into a monsoon. Sheets of rain made Duke feel like he was drowning. He could barely think. People were screaming and shouting, and he wanted to say he heard another few cracks from a gun, but he wasn't sure. He had just gunned down Jordan. She had shot as soon as Nathan had raised his gun at Howard, and Nathan fell to the ground before making good on his intensions to shoot. On some level, he felt as though the rain was Audrey crying, because it had started the moment the bullet ripped through Nathan’s chest. Duke knew that he had to help Nathan, no matter what, because not only was Nathan his friend, but Audrey would never forgive him if anything happened to Nathan when Duke was around. The enormity of the unasked request weighed heavily on his shoulders, but Duke knew he would shoulder that burden no matter the cost to himself.

Duke ran to his friend, and slid on his knees in the damp grass to Nathan's side. "Someone call an ambulance! Someone get help! Officer down! Help!"  
  
Nerves flared to life within Duke because he wasn’t sure if touching Nathan’s blood would trigger his own Trouble. But, Audrey had gone into the Barn, and that should mean the Troubles are gone, right? But what if they aren’t?

Nathan’s shirt was quickly becoming a deep crimson color, even with the torrential rain, so Duke knew he had to do something. If he didn’t, Nathan was going to bleed out right in front of him. And he would never forgive himself if that happened. Not to mention, Audrey would be pissed.

Duke took a deep breath, and pressed down on Nathan's wounds, quickly feeling the euphoric high of Trouble blood coursing through his body. _Dammit._ He forced himself to focus, but couldn't get a grip through that incessant driving rain, and because Nathan wouldn't stop squirming. The Troubles were definitely still around, because there’s no way that Nathan would be able to move after sustaining that much damage if he could feel. What was going on? Audrey going into the Barn hadn’t done anything for them. Was it a delayed response kind of thing? Did it take a while for the Troubles to go away? Duke had always assumed that they would just disappear quickly, like a snap of the fingers, but maybe it was something more? It did seem as though the Troubles kind of progressively started – one would appear, and then another, and then a few more. Maybe them disappearing would be similar. One would stop, and then another, and then a few more. His obviously hadn’t stopped, and neither had Nathan’s. Were the two of them cursed to be the last two standing with Troubles? Duke blew out a silent breath. At least if Nathan’s Trouble was still activated, he wouldn’t go into shock. That was something to be grateful for.  
  
"Audrey! Audrey! Duke, we have to get her!" Nathan shoved as hard against Duke as his body would allow, but he could sense it failing. He couldn’t fail Audrey though. He had to try. He hadn’t tried enough when she was here. He was stupid and let her push him away, and he had run right into the arms of Jordan. He made himself believe that he was only doing it to find a way to protect Audrey, but deep down he knew better. He was doing it to punish her, because she had been punishing him, and he wanted her to see the pain she was causing him. What a childish, and near-sighted thing to do. He should have been fighting for her. Fighting as he is now. But now he’s injured, and she’s gone, and there’s nothing he can do.  
  
"Nathan, she's gone. She's gone! You have to calm down. You're not in good shape, and you're only going to make it worse." Duke directed all his attention to Nathan, trying valiantly to hold his friend still so that he didn’t do any more damage to his already broken body.  
  
Nathan tried to sit up and shoved Duke's hands away. "I don't care! She's gone, why should I care?"  
  
Duke shoved his friend back into the ground, wincing as he realized that at least one of the bullets had gone clean through, and being pushed into the muddy ground would not be good. How could Nathan be so stupid to level a gun at Agent Howard? Did he not realize they were surrounded by members of the Guard? All of whom were carrying weapons, and not all of them were 100% sane? Where had Agent Howard gone, anyway? He must have slipped away in the commotion. Had he gone in the Barn after Audrey? Was he holding her in there?

Moments seemed to be stretching into hours, and the only thing changing seemed to be the growing pool of Nathan’s blood around his hands, and if it was even possible, more water falling from the sky. "Where the hell is the ambulance? Isn't anyone going to do anything?" Duke tried to look around as he held Nathan down, but the rain was so thick, all he could do was squint. He could make out a couple members of the Guard picking up what had to be Jordan, and others high tailing it out of there, leaving Duke alone with Nathan. He turned to look at Nathan when he realized he was suddenly having an easier time holding him down, and could see that Nathan was starting to fade in and out of consciousness.

"Oh no you don't buddy, you're not getting out of this that easily. Stay with me." Duke noticed that his hands were covered in Nathan’s blood. So much blood. He felt bile rise in this throat. He couldn’t lose Nathan today. He had already lost Audrey. He couldn’t lose his only two friends within minutes of each other. He wouldn’t survive it. Troubled or not.  
  
Duke startled slightly when a large body dropped down next to him. "Sasquatch! Oh, I have never been happier to see you in my life. Help me with Nathan. We need to get him to the hospital, now."  
  
Dwight put his arms under Nathan's shoulders and legs, and effortlessly picked him up. "I've got him Duke, but he looks pretty bad."  
  
Duke looked at Nathan and could see that the man was barely holding onto consciousness. A few more minutes, and he didn’t think Nathan would ever wake up. Panic was bubbling inside of him. "Get him out of here! I'm right behind you guys!"  
  
Duke raised his arm over his head, trying to shield his eyes from the driving rain. He was dimly aware that the meteors had stopped, but with how thick this rain was, they could have still been falling, and he wouldn't have been able to see them. Maybe Audrey had done something by going into the Barn. Maybe the Troubles would be stopping one at a time. Maybe her sacrifice hadn’t been in vain. Duke’s heart twisted at the thought. He couldn’t wrap his mind around the fact that his friend had sacrificed her life for a town she had barely known. He would have done anything to keep her there – to make it so she never would have to leave, but her leaving seems to have at least saved the town from destruction by meteor. That was something at least. But definitely not the ending he would have liked.

Some of the Guard members were still shouting, and Duke picked up a stray sentence as he was running through the trees towards the boats after Dwight and Nathan.  
  
"Maybe it always stays there. It's not like we've ever come out here to look for it before."  
  
All intentions of making it to the boat with Dwight and Nathan vanished, and he yelled at Dwight to just take off without him, because he wanted to see what was going on. Duke turned on his heel and started sprinting back towards the clearing. The Barn was still there when he and Dwight had taken off with Nathan, and he just assumed that it disappeared once everyone took off. But what if the Barn was still there? Did something go wrong? He knew for a fact that the Barn disappeared, because it had when the other Audrey was here, and he had found her wandering in the woods.  
  
He burst through the last of the trees, and stumbled back a bit. There, standing in the clearing, was the Barn. It hadn't moved. It was still there. What was wrong? What was happening? If the Barn was still there, was she? What did that mean with the Troubles? Would they never go away? Is that why he and Nathan were still afflicted? Because she was still there? Then how did the meteors stop? Had they? He squinted into the rain, but could barely see anything beyond the Barn.  
  
Duke's mind was reeling, and he couldn't focus. Only one thought came driving through.  
  
Audrey.  
  
He had never run faster in his life.  
  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------


	5. Uncle Duke

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Totally don’t own these characters, or this world. I just like to be a part of it.
> 
> Author’s Notes: Heads up – time shift again. 
> 
> There is going to be definite shifting between the future (where this story ultimately takes place) and the now. I’ll call it out each chapter in the A/N, but please let me know in the comments if you think there’s a better way for me to do it.
> 
> Thanks as always to my beta, who is more than willing to read SEVERAL versions of this to make sure it’s right.
> 
> Here’s the promised Tuesday update!

****The last time Duke ran so fast towards something, it had been to save the life of someone he cared about, and this time was no different. He felt like his legs couldn’t move fast enough, and every second felt like failure.

He couldn’t get the image of Juliet swimming in her own blood out of his mind.

The kid meant everything to him. From the moment Nathan placed the little girl in his arms, he knew right then and there that his fierce protectiveness for her mother would now be fully directed towards the little bundle of pink that was now lying in his arms. Duke definitely did not consider himself a “kid person” by any stretch of the imagination, but his heart had always felt a little broken after losing Jeanne and not being able to ever see her. Even with the Troubles long gone, he didn’t want to risk her by visiting, and would only look at the picture of her that Audrey had taken all those years ago.

But this was his second chance. Juliet definitely wasn’t his child, which could easily be evidenced by her brilliant blue eyes that could only have come from a combination of Audrey and Nathan’s, but he considered her a part of him. And because of that, he would be there for her whenever he could. Whenever Audrey and Nathan had to go out of town on a case, or if one kept them at the station long after normal working hours, he would watch Juliet. At first, when she was a baby, he would watch her at her own house, but as she got older, he would pick her up, and the two of them would spend hours together on his boat.

One of the proudest moments of his life was when he taught her to say Uncle Duke, and his heart lifted a little each time he heard her call his name from that moment on.

As she got older, he started teaching her the most basic of yoga poses, and knew he would have her at the master level by the time she was a teenager. He taught her poker, and was surprised at how adept she was at for such a young girl. He was a little worried when she started winning for real, and not because he was letting her. He felt good knowing that poker was a little secret kept between the two of them. He had warned her not to tell her father, and she seemingly understood the complex relationship that existed between her father and her uncle, so she never said a word, but always looked forward to evenings on the deck of Uncle Duke’s boat, with cards spread across the table.

But the thing they loved the most was the water. Neither of her parents were all that excited about being in the water, but Juliet loved it. Every time Duke came over, she begged him to go swimming, so in the summer, they would swim in the ocean, and in the winter, he would take her to the local indoor swimming pool. It seemed as though she could spend every waking minute in the water, and it wouldn’t have surprised Duke in the slightest if she ended up living on her own boat as soon as she was old enough to live on her own. So the fact that the water had almost claimed her life, left Duke with a feeling of dread that he didn’t think would ever leave him.

Duke sighed and glanced towards Juliet’s room, but didn’t want to go back in there just yet. He scraped his fingers through his hair, and could feel the slightly damp spots still sticking around. As he brought his hands down back to his lap, he turned them over. As he did, he noticed something that made his stomach flip. Everything had happened so fast that he hadn’t had time to just sit and think. As soon as he saw the blood in the water, he had dived in head first, and grabbed Juliet. When his arms wrapped around the little girl, he could feel her go limp, and he had clamped his hand on her neck where he saw the vicious wound. His blood had run cold, and he almost forgot what to do. Basic instinct flooded over him, and he had gotten her on the boat, her frail body cradled in his arms as he called the Coast Guard, and revved the boat faster than he ever had before. He would more than likely have to replace the motor.

He had almost made it to shore when the Coast Guard met up with him, and they quickly transferred her to the medical boat. The anchor on his boat had been dropped with the words, “I’ll come back for it later” crossing his lips as his first and only concern was the tiny blonde who was getting more and more pale as the seconds ticked by.

When he heard the words that she was stable, but not out of the woods, he let himself breathe out a tiny breath of relief.

But as he stared at his hand, that tiny breath of relief was once again sucked in. His hand was covered in blood. Juliet’s blood. He hadn’t noticed it before, but now, all he wanted to do was wash it off. Duke made to jump off his chair, but a thought kept him rooted. Juliet hadn’t felt it when the lure had caught in her neck and was subsequently pulled out. The only way that she wouldn’t have felt it, is if she was afflicted with Nathan’s Trouble. But if she was afflicted, that could only mean one thing. The Troubles were back. Duke turned his head towards Juliet’s room, and could hear Audrey’s muffled sobs. At that moment, he knew that Audrey had figured this out as well.

Duke looked back at his hand that was soaked in blood. So much blood. But, if the Troubles were back, then why hadn’t his been activated? The Troubles returned during an emotional event, and if this wasn’t an emotional event for him, he didn’t know what else could qualify. Would their return be similar to their departure? It had taken months for his Trouble to go away. Was it going to take months for his Trouble to return? Would it at all?

**\----------------------------  
**


	6. Another Chance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Totally don’t own these characters, or this world. I just like to be a part of it.
> 
> Author’s Notes: Heads up – time shift again. 
> 
> There is going to be definite shifting between the future (where this story ultimately takes place) and the now. I’ll call it out each chapter in the A/N, but please let me know in the comments if you think there’s a better way for me to do it.  
> Thanks as always to my beta, who is more than willing to read SEVERAL versions of this to make sure it’s right.
> 
> Here’s the promised Tuesday update!

****Dwight wanted to wait for Duke, but he was right. There was no way he could wait any longer without risking Nathan. Dwight had already called ahead, and an ambulance was waiting for them at the docks, so he left as fast as he could.

The boat ride seemed endless, but it gave Dwight time to bind Nathan’s wounds enough that he would survive until he made it to the ambulance. But it also gave him time to think, and worry. While Nathan was definitely in shock, he should be feeling some pain, and he wasn’t. It was obvious, if he wasn’t feeling anything, it meant that the Troubles were still around. The bullets lodged in Dwight’s safety vest was testament enough to that.

What would that mean for the town though? The Guard were already on edge, and this was just going to put them over that edge. There were going to be riots. There were going to be fights. There were going to be deaths. Dwight looked over at Nathan lying on the floor and could only think that Nathan was probably going to be public enemy number one. Not because he did anything wrong, but because he was the next closest thing to Audrey. And Audrey had somehow failed.

But how did this happen? He had seen her go into the Barn with his own eyes. Isn’t that all she had to do? Just go in and everything would go back to normal? The meteors appeared to have stopped, so why weren’t the Troubles gone? Looking at Nathan, Dwight had to admit that in this exact moment, Nathan being Troubled was the best thing that could happen to him. If he could feel, he would not be ok.

Flashing lights pulled Dwight’s eyes to the shoreline, and he could see the ambulance ready and waiting for them. He looked down at his friend, and willed him to be ok. Nathan’s face was white as a sheet, and Dwight knew that Audrey would kill him if he let Nathan die.

While the boat was docking, he was already getting off the boat with Nathan in his arms, and put him down on the gurney that the EMTs had wheeled down to them. Two of them immediately started working on Nathan as a third valiantly tried to hold a sheet over them to keep the rain to a minimum. They ran towards the ambulance and climbed in, Dwight pulling the door shut behind him as he settled into the chaos of the small space. They were already moving, and as Nathan was hooked up to an IV, and his shirt was ripped off his body, Dwight could have sworn he saw Nathan grimace as the first EMT started working on one of the gunshot wounds.

\-------------------------------------------

"Audrey!"  
  
Audrey leapt to her feet at the sound of her name, flipping her head from side to side trying to figure out where it was coming from.   
  
"Audrey! Are you in there? Audrey!"  
  
The pounding on the walls intensified, and Audrey laid her palms against the wall that was now visible and solid, and squinted her eyes.   
  
"Duke?"

The knocking kept getting louder, and Audrey’s heart was pounding just as loud. “Duke? Duke! Is that you? Duke!”

What was going on? Was that really Duke out there? Or was this just another memory/projection of the Barn that was designed to drive her insane?

Audrey stepped back from the door, reluctant to get her hopes up. As soon as she had heard his voice, her heart had leapt into her throat. Why would Duke be yelling outside the door? He wouldn’t. As soon as she had stepped into the Barn, it should have disappeared. There should be no way for Duke to be standing there calling for her. So, this couldn’t be real. She was a smart woman – a cop for cripes sake. Logically, there was no way for this to be happening, so it had to have been something the Barn was conjuring up. One more thing to drive her insane. One more thing she could look forward to over the next 27 years – voices from her loved ones calling out desperately to her.

She sighed, and turned away from the wall, holding her hands up to her ears to try to block out the cries of her name. Why won’t it just stop? Why can’t he just go away? Why is the Barn torturing her like this? She walked away from the wall, trying to think of something, anything that would block out Duke’s voice. She couldn’t be sucked into the realness of the situation. This wasn’t real. It couldn’t be. If it was, then something was wrong. Something was really wrong. And she had screwed up. Again. Was she really going to have to fight to leave Haven now? Is that what this was coming down to?

And if this was real, why was Duke yelling for her? Why wasn’t it Nathan? Something was wrong. She could sense it, and felt like she had been punched in the gut. She opened her eyes and turned back to the wall where she could hear Duke. If Duke was calling for her, something must have happened to Nathan. Her heart felt like it had dropped to her stomach, and her blood ran cold.

She knew exactly how her body felt when Nathan was ripped away from her, and her body was feeling terrifyingly close to that exact feeling. This was real. This wasn’t something the Barn was creating for her.

Audrey threw herself against the wall where Duke’s voice was coming. “Duke! Duke! I’m here!” She frantically clawed at the wall, and her fingers snagged in a crevice she hadn’t seen before. Pain rushed up her arm, but she didn’t feel it. She pulled with all her strength, and a wall of water hit her like a brick wall.

\--------------------------------------------

“Duke? Duke! Is that you? Duke!”

Hearing Audrey’s voice come through the Barn door ripped at Duke’s heart more than watching her leave had. She was in there!

Duke slammed his body against the Barn, and bounced off. The Barn door didn’t even budge. How was he going to get her out of there?

“Audrey! Audrey! How do I get you out? You need to come out!”

The rain would not stop, and Duke had given up all hope of ever being dry again, but he wasn’t even thinking about that now. The singular thought in his head was he needed to get Audrey out of that Barn, and now. He grabbed onto the handle that he saw Audrey pull on to get the door open originally, and leaned back with his full weight, and nothing happened. His fingers slipped, and he crashed to the ground. His wet hair stuck to his face, and his fingers sunk deep into the muddy ground. “Dammit.”

“Audrey!” He listened for her reply, but heard nothing. Was she still there? Or had the Barn taken her now? But if it had, wouldn’t it leave too? Or were the Guard right? Did it always just stay there? Why wasn’t she answering? He had just heard her voice a few minutes ago, hadn’t he? Or was it his imagination?

Duke wasn’t sure what to do. How was he going to get the Barn door open? And even if he did, would she be in there? She had to be in there. If she wasn’t, he wasn’t sure how he would continue on. Hell, how Nathan would continue on. He knew the town would forget her soon. Just like they always did. Sure, in 27 years, some would recognize her, but they would act as though they were meeting her for the first time. Would he be able to do that? Or would he grab her by the shoulders and shake her until she remembered?

“Duke! Duke! I’m here!”

Duke scrambled to his knees when he heard Audrey’s voice. He _knew_ it. That had been her voice he had heard the first time. What was going on? Why was she still here? Why was he questioning this? Audrey was still here!

As he moved to get up, he heard a loud creaking noise, and the impenetrable door in front of him began to open. And then there, standing in front of him, already soaked from the pounding rain, was Audrey Parker.

_________________________

 


	7. Where to go From Here

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Totally don’t own these characters, or this world. I just like to be a part of it.
> 
> Author’s Notes: Heads up – time shift again. 
> 
> There is going to be definite shifting between the future (where this story ultimately takes place) and the now. I’ll call it out each chapter in the A/N, but please let me know in the comments if you think there’s a better way for me to do it.
> 
> Thanks as always to my beta, who is more than willing to read SEVERAL versions of this to make sure it’s right.
> 
> Here’s the promised Tuesday update!

****Duke looked up, and standing in front of him, was Audrey Wuornos. And she looked like hell. He pushed himself out of his chair, and was about to speak when Audrey put her fingers to her lips. She leaned around him and closed the door to Juliet’s room.

Once she carefully closed it so that it barely made a click, she looked up at Duke, and pulled him into a hug. “Thank you.”

Duke wrapped his arms around the small woman, and instantly felt a little better. “How is she?”

Audrey pulled back and started pacing in the small hallway. “She’s resting. Nathan was able to speak to the doctor on the phone before he made it to the hospital, and the doctor said he was going to keep her asleep until at least tomorrow so she could gain some of her strength back.”

“How is he?” Duke’s eyes flicked to the window of Juliet’s room, through which he could see Nathan sleeping on a bed next to Juliet.

Audrey wrapped her arms around herself and looked through the same window, letting her eyes rest on her family. “He’s a mess. Not only with what happened to Juliet, but – Duke, he can’t feel anything anymore. His Trouble is back. Hearing about Juliet must have triggered it. Thankfully he’s sleeping now. I’m not sure for how long, but hopefully he can at least get a couple of hours in.”

Duke rested his hands on Audrey’s shoulders, and leaned his face down so that he was closer to eye level with her. “You should get a few hours in yourself. You won’t be any good to anyone if you’re bordering on exhaustion.”

Audrey looked at her friend and sighed as she broke eye contact to stare at the floor. “I know.” She looked back up with tears in her eyes. “What’s going on Duke? Why are the Troubles back? What does this mean? Do you think…” Audrey’s eyes flicked to her family, and then back to Duke, and her voice came out as a whisper. “Do you think the Barn is back and will take me away for good this time?”

Duke looked her dead in the eye. “Audrey. We stopped you from going in the Barn once. If it is back for you, we’ll stop it again.”

Audrey dropped her forehead on Duke’s chest, feeling his arms come around her. “I’m scared Duke.”

Duke sighed, only being able to imagine what she must have been thinking and feeling in that moment. Here she was, ten years after her last nightmare had ended, conceivably right back where she started. Only this time, she had a decade of history, a lifetime of memories, a family. Not things she could tear herself away from easily for the greater good of the town. Not this time. This time, if this was a time, she would fight tooth and nail, and would expect everyone else to do the same.

The two broke apart as they heard heavy footsteps coming down the hallway towards them. Seeing who it was, Audrey moved to hug the big man. Duke nodded his head towards him. “Sasquatch.”

“Audrey, how are you?”

Audrey pulled back and shrugged her shoulders. “I’m fine. It’s just a little overwhelming, that’s all.”

“What can I do?”

Audrey smiled as she looked back and forth between Duke and Dwight. Those two, along with Nathan, had been there for her through anything and everything - supernatural barns, broken down cars, last minute babysitters- everything. Her boys. Always there to help, no matter what. “We need to figure out what’s going on. Have you heard anything?”

Dwight shook his head. “So far, the only Trouble that seems to have been activated is Juliet’s.”

Glancing into Juliet’s room, Audrey shook her head. “Nathan’s too.”

Dwight’s eyes flicked to Juliet’s room, and then back to Audrey. “I’m so sorry Audrey.”

Audrey narrowed her eyes in concentration. “We need to figure out what’s going on. Why is this happening? And is it only affecting certain people? Or should we be gearing up for a whole new wave of Troubles?” Audrey began pacing the hallway. Her nerves were frayed, and her eyes felt like sandpaper, but she felt like she was going to jump out of her skin. Much faster than she expected, the air of domesticity she had developed over the years, was crumbling away, exposing her headstrong Audrey Parker persona. She had never let that fully disappear, but ten years of normalcy, and motherhood in general, tended to change a person. “Ok, let’s think about this logically. The Troubles only begin again when it’s time for me to come back from the Barn. After all our research over the years, we’ve determined that I’ve come back at least 20 times, stay for only the time period before The Hunter arrives, and then once I’ve gone into the Barn, the Troubles go away. They stay away for close to 27 years, and then return when I come back. This last time however, even though I went in the Barn, I didn’t go away, but the Troubles did. Slowly, but they did. Which was different than usual, because normally they go away all at once. We assumed that they trickled away because the cycle had been broken since I was still here. But here we are, 10 years later, and now they’re coming back. Again, not all at once, but slowly.”

“Yeah, but Audrey, the Troubles always come back slowly. They’re always triggered by something.”

Audrey looked to Duke and nodded. “You’re right. Ok, so that part hasn’t changed. But the Barn did eventually disappear, which, we need to really consider now.” At that moment, she noticed the blood on Duke’s hands, and stood up straight. “Is that…”

Duke glanced down to where Audrey was looking and remembered he still hadn’t washed off Juliet’s blood. He put his hands behind his back so that they were out of her sightline, and looked at her. “Audrey, I’m sorry, I forgot and haven’t had a chance…”

Audrey shook her head. “No, it’s ok. But, if it’s still on your hands, that means your Trouble hasn’t activated. And since they’re normally triggered by an emotional event, you would think that today…I need to get to the station. I need to see if any other Troubles are activating. Surely by now if the Troubles are back, someone should have accidentally triggered something somewhere.”

Audrey started to move towards the door to grab her coat and keys so that she could head out to start investigating, but a hand on her arm stopped her and pulled her back. She looked at Duke with frustration and questioning in her eyes.

“Audrey, you can’t leave now. You can’t be Audrey Parker. You need to be Audrey Wuornos. At least for tonight. You can fully switch back into Audrey Parker mode tomorrow.”

Audrey sighed. She knew Duke was right, but it was so much easier to dive into a problem she had some sense of control over, rather than deal with the frightening reality that was behind the closed door in front of her.

“You’re right. But we still need to figure things out.” Audrey paused as she looked over at Nathan sleeping beside their daughter. She knew deep down she needed to be in there with them, no matter how much she wanted to fix things.

“Ok, new plan. Duke, you head out to where the Barn usually drops in and see if it’s back. I definitely haven’t called it, so I would assume it’s not there, but since the Troubles are back, I want to confirm my assumption. Dwight, you go to the police station and get a feel for what’s going on. See if any reports of Troubles activating have come in, and if so, who they are. We need to tag team on this, and leave Nathan out of this as much as possible. He’s not good with problems he can’t solve, and I already know he’s racked with guilt about Juliet. He won’t be able to focus, and will only slow us down. We’ll let him just focus on her so I can help you two.”

“Audrey, you know that won’t work. Nathan isn’t going to sit idly by with Juliet while you go off fighting. He’s going to want to be by your side.”

Audrey looked at Duke, hating his words, but knowing he was right. “I can handle Nathan, but I need you two to help me.”

Dwight and Duke looked at each other. They knew each one would normally jump at Audrey’s request, but someone had to tell her. Dwight lost the stare down, and looked to Audrey.

“Audrey, we’ll get on this as soon as we can, but it’s 3 in the morning. We won’t be able to get anything done until after the sunrise at least. Why don’t you go in and get some sleep, and we’ll regroup in the morning. We’ll call you as soon as we find anything.”

Audrey had lost all sense of time, and didn’t even realize it was so late. And as much as she wanted everyone to start doing everything now, she knew they had a point. Duke wouldn’t even be able to see his way in the dark to the Barn, and with the Troubles gone, the police station was pretty much a ghost town during the hours of 9pm and 6am. Not too much happened in small town Haven during the night. But still, she sighed in defeat. “Fine, you’re right. Go home, get some sleep. You know where you can find me.”

Duke and Dwight each gave her a quick hug, and walked out together, leaving Audrey standing alone in the dimly lit hallway looking in on the most important people in her life.

\--------------------------


	8. Chaos

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Totally don’t own these characters, or this world. I just like to be a part of it.
> 
> Author’s Notes: Heads up – time shift again. 
> 
> There is going to be definite shifting between the future (where this story ultimately takes place) and the now. I’ll call it out each chapter in the A/N, but please let me know in the comments if you think there’s a better way for me to do it.
> 
> Thanks as always to my beta, who is more than willing to read SEVERAL versions of this to make sure it’s right.
> 
> Here’s the promised Tuesday update!

****Nathan couldn’t help the strangled cries coming from his lips. In the back of his mind he knew it wasn’t manly, but fire ripped through his body. He had never felt pain like this. Dimly the thought floated through his head that since he could feel, the Troubles were gone. _Audrey._

And with that, Nathan slipped into unconsciousness again.

Not too much rattled Dwight, but hearing Nathan’s screams of pain had him shaken up. In all the time he had worked with Nathan, Nathan always maintained a stoic persona. Nothing fazed him. He could be shot at, and would keep moving until the job was done, and only then seek out medical assistance. And even then, he did it because it was required, not because he needed relief. And so now, sitting in the back of the ambulance, and again, running down the halls of the hospital beside his friend, the screams of anguish were shaking Dwight to his core. The only relief came when Nathan slipped into unconsciousness, but even that disappeared when the pain forced Nathan back awake and his screams started anew. Medical personnel stood in front of Dwight, blocking his way to the operating room with Nathan, and Dwight had to turn away. He slumped into the tiny vinyl chair that was next to the room, and scrubbed his face with his hands. Exhaustion was threatening to take over. This day had been non-stop since he woke up – not only physically, but emotionally as well.

The sounds of medical chatter and instruments assaulted his ears, and he had to get up to pace. The person that needed to be here right now would never be here. Well, not for another 27 years. Dwight knew though that if anyone was going to get Nathan through this, it would be Audrey. But she couldn’t. She was gone, which is why the Troubles were gone. Because of her, Nathan could feel everything that was happening right now, which was both a blessing and a curse.

Dwight looked into the operating room and could see that they had finally been able to knock Nathan out, and while he still didn’t look good, at least he didn’t look like he was in pain anymore. With that knowledge, Dwight sat back down in the small chair, and stayed at his post until the operation was complete, and he was able to confirm that his friend was still alive as they wheeled him to a room that was sure to be his home for the next couple of weeks.

\---------------------------------

Duke looked up at her and couldn’t believe it. There she was. Nothing had happened. She was here! He could see her scanning the field, squinting her eyes through the rain, as she finally settled on him. Duke searched her face for the smile she always gave him. The one he so desperately needed right now, but it wasn’t there. Even as she moved towards him to give a brief hug, her face only held a look of concern.

“Where’s Nathan?”

Duke’s heart sank. He should have known that Nathan would have been her singular concern – above her gratitude for still being here and seeing him - but deep down wanted her to be so happy to see him that her hug was more of joy than of relief. He needed that genuine human contact right now. He had never felt so low in his life, but that contact wouldn’t happen, and he had to accept that. He had to be the good friend he was, and had to support her in this moment, because he knew that she was going to need him right now, and he sent up a silent prayer that Dwight had gotten Nathan to the hospital in time, because if not, Audrey would not stay in Haven. No, she would welcome the Barn, and would run to it, and never look back. And Duke couldn’t let that happen.

“Audrey, come on. He’s been hurt.”

Audrey’s heart seized in her chest. Her intuition had been right. Something bad had happened. She ran towards Duke, eyes searching, demanding. Dread and horror radiating from them. “What happened?”

Duke sighed. This wasn’t going to be easy. “He was shot. It’s bad Audrey. Dwight rushed him to the hospital.”

The fist that had been clutching her heart squeezed even harder, and Audrey was finding it difficult to breathe. If it wasn’t raining so hard, she was positive she would feel tears leaking from her eyes. Her voice came out small and weak, but she wasn’t ashamed of it. “Take me to him.”

For some reason Duke hesitated, and saw agitation flash through Audrey’s eyes. She grabbed his hand and starting pulling him across the field. Nothing was stopping her from getting to Nathan. Duke looked down at their joined hands as they ran, and once again, that pang of jealousy and regret sliced through his body. But he knew that anything he felt towards Audrey was not reciprocated in any way. She only saw Nathan, and Nathan was her life. She had the same singular focus to do anything to save Nathan as she had only a few short days ago. It dawned on him that she must have been dreading what she would come upon because of that very event. She had lost the love of her life such a short time ago, and her pigheadedness had somehow saved the day, but there was no woman with the Trouble to bring him back this time. There was no supernatural affliction that could turn back time, or could change timelines. There was only a hospital, and she needed to be there.

Duke surged ahead of her, and pulled her towards the docks. Thankfully there were still a couple of boats there – someone was going to be pissed their boat was gone, but he didn’t care. The engine roared to life and they were off.

\-----------------------------------------------

Audrey felt sick, and the choppy waters were not helping. She closed her eyes, but that only made it worse, and she leaned over the side to retch.

This had been the longest, most emotional day of her life, and she wasn’t sure how much longer she was going to last. She felt numb. Nothing was in her control, and she felt ready to break. She had had to say goodbye to all of her loved ones. Had had to resign herself to leaving everyone behind, and go into a barn which surely meant her death. Then suddenly the door was opened. She wasn’t gone. She was still here, but it only got so much worse. The door opened to the news of her true love being rushed to the hospital, and Duke wasn’t sure Nathan was going to survive. He had to survive. If Nathan wasn’t here, she didn’t want to be either. Sure, she had friends (surprisingly), and had made a home here - a place where she was comfortable. She had a great job, doing what she wanted to do, and as confusing as her life was, it made sense to her. But none of that mattered without Nathan. None of that was worth it without him. And she decided in that very moment that if Nathan wasn’t by her side, she would not stay in Haven. She would welcome the embrace of the Barn. She would revel in it. Because it would make her forget. It would save her from her own destruction.

\--------------------------------

She was soaked to the bone, but she didn’t care. The heaters in Duke’s jeep had done nothing to break the chill. She knew the only thing that would, would be the heat from Nathan’s skin. She wanted nothing more than to be sitting next to him in front of a roaring fire, bundled together under a blanket, drinking hot chocolate, and just being content to be with each other. Nothing, and no one around them. Just them.

Audrey burst through the hospital doors and was assaulted by chaos around her. Members of the Guard were staunching bullets wounds, people were holding various limbs that had been injured from falling meteors, small children were crying, people were yelling at the nurses at the desk, but nothing could get in her way. She turned to Duke, tears staining her cheeks. “Where is he?”

Duke was at a loss. He had no idea where Nathan would be, so he shoved his way to the front of the line, and stared down the poor nurse at the desk. “Where is Nathan Wuornos? We need to see him now.” He must have looked like a wild man, because the nurse inched away from him.

“Um, sir, I’m not sure. But, even if I did know where he was, you would have to be family to get back to see any patient right now. As you can see, we’re really busy. You can take a seat, and I’ll have someone come get you.” Duke felt someone bump his arm, and he was about to turn and punch whoever felt they were more important than his task right now, but stopped when she started talking.

“I am Detective Audrey Parker with the Haven PD. You need to let me see Chief Nathan Wuornos NOW.” The authority in her voice betrayed how she was actually feeling at the moment, but no one was going to stop her from being with Nathan. Especially not some hot shot nurse on a power trip.

“Duke!” Audrey looked up at Dwight’s voice, but couldn’t see anything over the crush of people. She cursed her short stature in that moment.

Duke turned at the sound of his name and saw Dwight waving him over to the back hallway. Duke grabbed Audrey’s arm, and guided her through the mass of humanity that was threatening to crush the desk in front of them. As they broke through the crowd, Duke could see Dwight’s eyes widen at the sight of Audrey, but other than that, you’d never know looking at his face that her being there was anything out of the ordinary.

“He’s down here.” Dwight gestured towards the end of the hall. “He just got out of surgery, and is still unconscious. They have him in ICU.”

Audrey ran ahead of the two boys, her heart propelling her in the right direction. As Dwight and Duke followed behind her, Dwight leaned into Duke. “What happened? Why is she here?”

Duke shook his head. “I’m not sure, but something is wrong. As happy as I am that she’s here, she shouldn’t be.”

“But the Troubles are gone. So, something happened.”

Duke stopped short in the hallway, and out of the corner of his eye could see Audrey still rushing towards Nathan. “Excuse me? What are you talking about? The Troubles haven’t stopped. Mine was active just a couple of hours ago when I was keeping Nathan from bleeding out.” Duke tapped a finger on the bullet holes in Dwight’s safety vest. “And if you didn’t notice, it looks like yours is still active as well.”

Dwight sighed and looked down the hall to see Audrey duck into a room. “They’re gone Duke. Nathan was unconscious by the time I got him in the ambulance, but he woke up as they were working on him, and was in and out of consciousness when we got here before they knocked him out to perform surgery. He was screaming in pain the whole time he was awake.”

Duke took a step back and felt his heart skip a beat. “What? Are you sure?”

Dwight shook his head. “Duke, I’ve never heard someone be in that much pain before. Nathan could feel absolutely everything. The Troubles are gone. Audrey did it.”

Duke looked down the now empty hall towards where Audrey had been. What did this mean?

\------------------------------

Audrey screeched to a halt in front of Nathan’s room, and took a deep breath. She looked in, and he looked so fragile in the bed. Her heart was in her stomach, and if she hadn’t thrown up everything in her system already off the side of the boat, she definitely would have thrown up here. Instead, her throat  burned, and a steady stream of tears rolled down her cheeks. She walked in, and the steady beep of the heart monitor managed to slightly ease the firm grip of the fist that had been squeezing her heart from the moment she heard Duke’s voice. Audrey pushed a lock of Nathan’s hair from his forehead, and leaned down to kiss his lips. He felt like he was on fire, which must have meant he was running a fever from the surgery. She threaded her fingers through his hand, and squeezed tight. Just the feeling of his skin on hers was easing her tension. They weren’t out of the woods yet, but they were nearing the edge.

Audrey scanned the room, and saw a chair up against the wall by the door. She reluctantly let go of Nathan’s hand to go retrieve the chair, and pulled it right next to the bed. She reached for his hand again, and once again, threaded her fingers through his, and looked at his face as she traced his cheek with her free hand. “I’m here Nathan. It’s me, Parker. You need to pull through this, ok? Because I can’t survive without you. I love you.”

Her severe exhaustion caught up with her, and Audrey put her arm on Nathan’s bed, and laid her head on top of it. Sleep quickly overtook her, and she dreamed of a cabin in the woods with a roaring fire, and her and Nathan dancing to the tunes of an old song playing on the radio.

\--------------------------------------


	9. Stuck Between Two Audreys

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Totally don’t own these characters, or this world. I just like to be a part of it.
> 
> Author’s Notes: Heads up – time shift again. 
> 
> Thanks as always to my beta, who is more than willing to read SEVERAL versions of this to make sure it’s right.
> 
> Here’s the promised Tuesday update!

****Audrey watched her friends walk away down the hallway, and she suddenly felt incredibly alone. It was like she was stuck in the middle of being Audrey Parker, and Audrey Wuornos. Walking away from her was Audrey Parker’s team - the people she wanted to join with to help solve what’s going on right now, but they left her to be with the family she created as Audrey Wuornos - her loves, who suddenly had a unique bond she would never share, and now embodied the very fear she hoped she had left behind for good almost a decade ago.

As Audrey stood there, alone in her thoughts, she realized Audrey Wuornos was slightly beating out Audrey Parker in who needed to be present in that moment, so Audrey took one last look down the empty hallway before slipping into Juliet’s room.

The fear that she had admitted to Duke began to overtake her as she looked over her sleeping family from her place just inside the doorway. If the Troubles were back, did that mean her time in Haven was coming to an end? Whenever thoughts of the Troubles emerged, the persona of Audrey Parker always seemed to gain an advantage.

Why now? Even if the next round was inevitably coming, she should have had at least another 17 years before it hit. It was too soon now. When was the next Hunter supposed to arrive? Audrey pulled out her phone and did a quick search, her heart sinking with the realization it was only 6 months away. Such a similar timeline to her first go-around in Haven. Audrey could definitely feel her Audrey Parker persona hitting her stride.

She started to pace the small room – her mind flying through possibilities. What could be causing this? She really needed to see if the Barn was there. That was pretty much step one. If it was, that would allow them to go in one direction. If it wasn’t, there was a whole different direction they needed to go in. But then again, was the Barn there when she showed up in Haven? Her bet would strongly be on no. In which case, what should they be looking for? A stranger to suddenly show up in town? Would it be someone who looked like her? Would she have a clone walking around? That would be weird. Even for Haven. But if it was anyone else, how would they know that was the person they needed to be looking for? And why would that person be there to solve the Troubles? Who else would be forced that fate?

The revelation hit her like a ton of bricks, and she pulled up from her pacing. He was the only other person than her in the Barn. Duke had told her months later that Arla had died sitting by the Barn, and the Guard had buried her just outside of town. Audrey had gone to visit the grave once. Just to confirm that Arla was out of her life, and also, because a piece of her knew that at some point, Arla had been the love of her son’s life, and she had to accept that.

That had to be it, right? For centuries, it had always been a form of Audrey that was forced to go through cycle after cycle of the Troubles. So, it would make sense that if the Troubles continued on a cycle, it would have to be a piece of her that would continue that, and James was certainly a piece of her. And of Nathan too. Audrey glanced over at Nathan who was stretched out on a cot the hospital staff put in the far side of the room between Juliet’s bed and the window, and sighed. Everyone she touched was hurt somehow.

But it kind of made sense. James had been missing since the Barn disappeared, so it was assumed he disappeared with the Barn, and since James was only part of her, the cycle could conceivably be shorter. That was a string they had pulled on many years ago as to why she was able to stay, but really had no way of proving anything. James was gone, the Barn was gone, the Troubles were gone, and since she was still there, Vince and Dave were just as clueless as the rest of them as to what was going on, so they had had to let the string drop. But maybe they had been on to something.

She pulled out her phone to start dialing the station to put out an APB on anyone that looked like James. If it was him, he would be making his way to Haven fairly soon. Probably with no memory of being James, but it would still be him. Then what would she do? After leaving a message with the night officer, who swore he would get the first detective who walked in that morning on the case, Audrey quickly logged into her computer remotely, and set up an alert for anyone fitting the description of James being arrested within a 100 mile radius of Haven. She half-heartedly scanned through a couple of recent arrest reports from Derry, but in her heart, she knew he wouldn’t be in there. It was too soon. The Troubles always seemed to start a few months before she made her way to Haven, so at the earliest, they wouldn’t be hearing or seeing James for at least another 6 weeks or so.

Audrey shook her head. Her life had been so simple these past years. She had been able to date (date!) a man she truly cared for, while carving out a life of a small town cop. She had been asked to move in with said man, and eventually married him. When he had ended up being on the road more than at home, Nathan had bought Audrey Peanut to keep her company, and then soon after, Juliet made her appearance, allowing Audrey to settle into the role of mom, which, admittedly had been scarier than going into the Barn, but, she had managed, and had done a pretty good job of it all so far.

Before long, Audrey could feel her thoughts starting to meld together, and as she looked at Juliet lying on her bed, sleeping peacefully, and all energy drained from her body. Sun was starting to peak through the clouds outside the windows, and she knew she needed to rest at least for a little while. Who knew when she would have another opportunity. As a mother, she knew that Juliet always slept better snuggled into Audrey whenever she was sick or injured, so carefully, Audrey climbed onto Juliet’s bed, and was just starting to fall asleep when she felt a warm hand on her arm. Opening her eyes, she looked up to see her husband’s grey-blue sleep filled eyes looking down on her.

“Come on Audrey.”

At the sounds of Nathan’s voice, Audrey could feel her Audrey Wuornos persona break free.

Nathan tugged at her hand, and Audrey obligingly climbed off of Juliet’s bed, and instead snuggled in beside Nathan on the small cot. Deep down Audrey knew that Nathan needed to feel something in this moment, and so left her little girl. Normally she would have stayed with Juliet, but also knew that the drugs being dripped into her little body were  keeping her locked away from the world for the moment. Nathan however, was very aware of his surroundings, and his now lack of feeling them.

He wrapped his body around hers, and with his warmth cocooning her, she slipped into a dreamless sleep. James and the Troubles were just going to have to wait a few hours more. Audrey Parker was also going to have to wait to fully spring to life, because Audrey Wuornos was exactly where she needed to be at the moment – in the arms of the man she loved, next to the wonderful creature they had somehow managed to create together.

Audrey Wuornos had the life she did because of Audrey Parker, so by becoming a unit, they together would defeat this extraordinary challenge.

\----------------------------


	10. Awake

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Totally don’t own these characters, or this world. I just like to be a part of it.
> 
> Author’s Notes: Heads up – time shift again. 
> 
> Thanks as always to my beta, who is more than willing to read SEVERAL versions of this to make sure it’s right.
> 
> Here’s the promised Tuesday update!

****His mouth felt dry. But that couldn’t be right. He could never tell if his mouth was dry or not. He also had a dull ache spreading across his chest and into his abdomen. But again, that couldn’t be right. Was he just imagining things? Most curiously though, he could feel a hand held tight within his own. That he could _definitely_ feel. But how could that happen? He could only feel one person’s hand. He had to be dreaming, but the name slipped from his lips, regardless. “Parker.” His voice sounded strangled, like it hadn’t been used in a few days, which made him briefly think this wasn’t a dream. But it had to be, because he could only feel one person, and that person was gone, and that’s why he could hear despair in his voice too. Utter, complete despair. Her leaving must have worked. The Troubles were gone. That’s why he could feel this person’s hand in his own. He didn’t care who it was. No one mattered except for her.

“Nathan.”

Nathan’s eyes flew open at the sound of his name. The breathy voice sounded like it came from her. It couldn’t have though. She was gone, and that’s why he could feel the hand of whoever was sitting beside him, and that’s why his mouth felt like the Sahara, and why his chest felt like it was on fire. But, maybe he _was_ dreaming, and that’s why he could feel everything. He almost didn’t want to turn his head, because if it was just a dream, he at least wanted this dream to last as long as possible. At least she would still be with him in his dreams.

But then, a face came into his field of vision, and he felt his heart tighten in hope that this wasn’t a dream, that this was in fact real - because that face belonged to his one true love. But it couldn’t be her. She had gone into the Barn, she was gone. She couldn’t be here. He must be dreaming.

And then he felt her hands on his cheeks, and watched her as she leaned down towards him. Her lips touched his, and sensations flared. It was her. He sighed in contentment, his eyes drifting closed, not even caring if this was a dream, and smiled as he felt her forehead lean against his own. “Parker.” It had to be a dream, because she was gone. He knew she was gone.

He reached up to pull her down to him, and pain exploded throughout his body. This was not a dream. This pain was very real. His eyes flew open as he gasped in pain and the unexpectedness of it, and then flashes of memory struck him like a lightning bolt. He remembered fighting Duke as Audrey stepped into the Barn. He remembered pulling a gun on Agent Howard. He remembered falling to his knees, and looking down to see blood seeping through his shirt. He remembered hearing gunshots come from right above him as Duke shot at whoever had shot him. He remembered trying to get to Audrey, and Duke shoving him into the ground. He remembered waking up in the ambulance, screaming in pain as an EMT explored one of his bullet wounds. The Troubles were gone. Audrey was gone.

But she wasn’t gone. She was here.

Nathan ignored the pain as he desperately reached out to her. He could feel tears streaming down his cheeks. He could _feel_ them. He was clutching for her, desperate to have her in his arms. He didn’t care what had happened. All he knew in that moment was that the Troubles seemed to be gone, and Audrey was here with him. “Parker! Audrey.”

Nathan’s eyes were wild, and Audrey was terrified he was going to rip out his IV with the way he was reaching for her. She quickly glanced towards the door, hoping to flag down a nurse or a doctor, but saw no one. Nathan was in shock, and she instinctively knew he needed to feel her. She leaned down into him as best she could from her awkward position beside his bed. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and held on tight, being careful to not press against his chest, which was still riddled with bullet holes. Troubles or not, he’d be able to feel it if she leaned against him.

He buried his face in the crook of her neck and sobbed, and she held him close as she breathed in his scent. He needed to feel her. To know she was real, and she needed to feel him, to know he was alive. “Nathan, it’s me. It’s really me. I’m here. I’m safe. I’m not leaving you. I’m here.” She only hoped that her words would comfort him and make him believe that she was really here.

They were going to make it through this. They were going to do it together. As a team.

\------------------------


	11. And, so it Begins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Totally don’t own these characters, or this world. I just like to be a part of it.
> 
> Author’s Notes: Heads up – time shift again. 
> 
> You guys ask for a longer chapter? You get a longer chapter. 
> 
> And please thank my beta, because without her, this chapter would have been way too confusing for anyone outside my head.
> 
> Here’s the promised Tuesday update!

“Daddy, where’s Mommy?”

As much of a relief as it was for Nathan to hear Juliet’s voice so strong after only being awake for such a short time, he wanted in that same moment to throttle Audrey for not being there. Deep down he knew that Audrey would want to dive into solving the case as soon as she could, but it stunned even him a little when she was already gone in the morning when he woke up, leaving only a note on his phone that she was at the station following up on something and would be back soon.

The doctor had arrived soon after Nathan had woken up and pulled out Juliet’s breathing tube, saying it would be better to have her up and breathing on her own. A few hours later, Audrey was still MIA (no one at the station would cop to seeing her, but Nathan knew deep down they all liked her more than him anyways, so who knows what bribery was going down there in his absence), and Juliet had started to wake up. The nurses had all come to check on the pretty little girl, and talked to her as Nathan dialed Audrey more times than should have been necessary, but now she was fully awake, and like every little kid, asking for the person who wasn’t there.

Nathan rubbed his hand over his face and tried to look upbeat for his little girl. “She had to run into work, sweetie. She’ll be here soon.” And as if on cue, his phone beeped with a text message from Audrey that simply read, “BRT”.

“Silly daddy. Aren’t you the boss? You should have told her not to go in.”

Nathan grinned at Juliet. The things that kid said. “You would think I was the boss, huh. Sometimes your mommy just doesn’t listen.” Nathan leaned over and scrunched up his features into a funny face, causing the little girl to giggle. Normally he would have playfully squeezed her nose, but as he was reaching up to do so, he stopped himself, because that would have been the first noticeable thing for her that she couldn’t feel anything. And how do you explain something like that to a six year old girl? He was a few years older than her when his affliction kicked in the first time, and his explanation had come in the form of countless doctor visits and various tests to ultimately determine he had idiopathic neuropathy. Even now, he’s not too sure why that’s what he was initially told – it’s not like Havenites back then didn’t know what the Troubles were. But maybe that was just the easiest way to explain it to a little boy why he suddenly can’t feel anything or anyone anymore.

For the briefest of moments, Nathan considered doing the same to Juliet. It would be easier than trying to explain to a small child what supernatural afflictions were, but he knew he couldn’t do that. He would have to explain to her exactly what was going on. And, if he was being honest with himself, and his life, that would also make explaining flying cows a lot easier as well down the road if it ever came to that.

Dammit, where was Audrey. Even if he knew deep within his soul that telling Juliet about the Troubles was the way to go, Nathan still wanted to consult with Audrey about all of this. Maybe she wouldn’t want Juliet to know about what exactly the Troubles were. He couldn’t see why she wouldn’t, but who knows. Where the hell was she? It’s not like Haven is a huge city. Even if she actually stopped at every stop sign on the way from the station to here (which she never in her life had come to a full stop at each stop sign) it still shouldn’t take this long for her to get here. There was a small seed growing deep in his stomach that he was desperately trying to keep buried. Was she avoiding him and Juliet because she was worried that since the Troubles were back, she might be forced to leave? And she was already starting to push them away – much as she had done to him almost a decade ago – so that if she did have to leave, in her mind, it wouldn’t hurt them as badly? God, he hoped not. He couldn’t handle her pulling away. It had been torture all those years ago, and that was before they had become a single unit. He couldn’t even conceive how bad it would be now, since not only did he have himself to worry about, but more importantly, he had Juliet to worry about.

“Daddy? When can I go home? I want to play with Uncle Duke. He promised me he was going to take me to Rosemary’s for cupcakes.”

The tiny voice broke Nathan out of his deep thoughts, and he smiled at his little girl. God, she was just like her mother. Those impossibly blonde curls, the deep blue eyes, the singular drive for cupcakes from Rosemary’s. But of course, she just had to inherit his stupid curse. Why couldn’t she have inherited Audrey’s immunity to everything? Instead, it was his fault that his angel had a crack in her wing. He was going to do everything in his power to fix it, and he knew without a doubt that he could, especially if his second half was by his side. “Hopefully soon, baby girl. But, you know, you’re going to have to be careful these next few days. You have quite the boo boo there from falling off Uncle Duke’s boat.” Nathan nodded towards her neck as he spoke.

Juliet shrugged in her bed. “I can’t feel it Daddy, so I must be ok.”

And at that moment, Nathan suddenly realized how he sounded to Audrey all those times he said very similar words to her after being injured. “You know Juliet, just because you can’t feel it, doesn’t mean you’re not injured.” And there he was sounding just like Audrey. Talk about déjà vu. “There’s something we actually need to talk about…” Nathan stopped mid-sentence as Juliet’s eyes lifted from his own and floated to the doorway, her face breaking out in a massive grin. Oh, thank god. Finally, Audrey.

“Uncle Duke!”

Nope, not Audrey. Nathan mentally smacked his forehead, but turned around to see the visitor, and had to smile as he watched Duke walk in. As much as he disliked the guy, he had to respect how much Duke looked after Juliet, and in that moment, he seemed to care more about Juliet than her own mother did. He strode in carrying a big Get Well Soon balloon, and a small square box that had a Rosemary’s sticker on it, which undoubtedly held a cupcake.

“Hey Bug, how you doing? I brought you a surprise.” Duke nodded his head towards Nathan, but strode straight to Juliet, and handed her the white box, which she eagerly opened. “It’s chocolate peanut butter. Your favorite.” As she opened the box and reached in, Duke leaned in close to her like they were conspiring together on something secret, but he made sure to stage whisper so Nathan could hear. “Now, you just keep that between the two of us, ok? We don’t want the spoilsports to foil our fun, do we?” He jerked a thumb back at her dad, and Juliet’s eyes went as wide as saucers as she glanced over Duke’s shoulder at Nathan, and then when she looked at him again, she nodded in agreement.

“Of course Uncle Duke. It’s our secret.”

Duke leaned down to kiss Juliet’s forehead, but her attention was completely on the chocolaty goodness in front of her, and everyone else in the room was tertiary at that point. Duke tied the balloon to her bed rail, and then turned towards Nathan, trying to speak a little quieter than usual so as to not rouse Juliet from her current focus. “Where’s Audrey?”

Nathan looked at Duke as he stood up and gestured with his head towards the door, but leaned down towards Juliet before moving. “Hey Sweetie, Uncle Duke and I are going to go have a grown up chat out in the hallway. Just call us if you need us, ok?”

The little girl didn’t even acknowledge his presence, as the cupcake was the only thing on her mind at the moment. Yup, definitely her mother’s daughter.

Nathan led Duke out into the hallway, and started pacing as soon as they were out of the room, rubbing the back of his neck, dimly aware that once again he couldn’t even feel his nervous tick. “I have no idea where she is Duke, and frankly, it’s pissing me off. Why isn’t she here? What exactly is more important than her daughter being in the hospital?”

“Nathan, you need to calm down. She’s probably just grabbing some extra clothes or something.”

Nathan wheeled around. Both frustration and anger seeped from his eyes. “No, she’s at the station. She’s working. She’s literally working instead of being here. I know she’s hard headed and driven, but, god.” Nathan raked a hand through his hair, trying to dissipate the emotions boiling within him. It wasn’t often that Audrey set him off, but she sure was doing her best this time.

Duke could almost see the anger boiling out of Nathan, and it was unsettling. He knew that he was overreacting because of the situation, but still. But then again, how would he be reacting if he was in Nathan’s shoes? First you learn that your daughter is in the hospital, then you learn your own Trouble has reactivated, and then your wife, your rock, is MIA. And deep down, he would have to be worrying that Audrey might go MIA permanently this time. Yup, he’d be overreacting too.

Duke knew he had to be the one with the level head at the moment though. If he couldn’t calm Nathan down before Audrey arrived, the fireworks those two would create would be unbearable. And they wouldn’t be the fun kind of fireworks. No, they would be the full on, screaming, throwing things, kind of fireworks that can only come from two people who were both so hard headed that neither could get beyond their own fear for the other to actually do anything productive.

“Nathan, come on. Yeah, her not being here is not cool, but you have to understand where she’s coming from on this one. Not only is she freaked out that her daughter is here, and then she finds out that you’re back to being Pinocchio, but come on. You have to realize that she’s freaking out that her time here in Haven might be up. We all know what happens when The Troubles appear. She normally does too, and then she goes away. Don’t you think that has to be scaring the hell out of her? The whole cycle is off. None of us know what’s going on, and now that she has you and Juliet, there’s no way she wants to leave – if that’s even what has to happen. So she’s out there already looking to find a way to stop whatever is going on so that she can make sure she stays with you permanently. You need to be doing that too! You know you two work better as a team, whether it’s physically together, or just working on the same case. You need to be doing that now. Talk to Audrey. Tell her what you’re feeling, and tell her you’re going to make this all ok. I really think she needs to hear that, and she needs to hear it from you.”

Duke mirrored Nathan’s motion of raking his fingers through his hair, and turned away from Nathan. His heart was pounding, and he was both terrified and angry in the same breath. He didn’t even want to think about the fact that Audrey may really disappear this time. By some grace of god, they avoided it the last time, but who knows if they could cheat fate twice in a lifetime. He turned back around to look at his friend, whose shoulders were now slumped, and who was staring at the floor while rubbing the back of his neck. He had to feel bad for the guy. His life had been essentially on cloud nine these past years – he had finally gotten with the girl of his dreams, who inexplicably wanted to be with him too, he had had a child as he always wanted, and was successful at work. And now, his world was crashing around him.

He was about to speak when he heard footsteps running down the hallway.

“I’m here, I’m here!”

Duke turned to see Audrey rushing towards them. She flicked her eyes to his as she moved past him into Nathan’s arms, and he could see that look she used to give him all those years ago when she had learned a piece of information that was troubling her. He wanted her to tell him everything in that moment, but he knew that she would have to switch back to family mode for now. And something told him she would want to talk to him in private about it – away from Nathan. Scary how much the past quickly caught up to the future. Here they were again, her keeping valuable information away from Nathan to protect him. Duke shook his head slightly, and peeked into Juliet’s room as his two friends embraced.

“Hey Bug, I have to get back to the boat.” He pointed towards her so she paid attention. “Now, I think you’re going home today, so you better have those cards ready and waiting for me, ok?” He winked at her and grinned when she smiled back at him.

“You got it Uncle Duke!”

He waved back at her as she waved goodbye, and he nodded at Audrey and Nathan as he walked by them. He could only hope those two decided to act on that full trust for each other they keep swearing they have. The only way they would all get through this is if those two would work together.

Audrey pulled back from Nathan, and grabbed his hand. “What did the doctor say?”

Nathan sighed. “He took out her breathing tube and said she should perk up rather quickly, and being your daughter, she completely has. I’m betting they’ll let us take her home in a day or two. I think they’ll want to just keep monitoring her vital signs at this point.”

Audrey let out a breath she didn’t even know she was holding. “That’s great news. She’s doing ok then?”

“Yeah. She’s been asking for you, but thankfully Duke surprised her and distracted her.” He couldn’t help giving her the dig, and knew he was cruel for doing it.

Audrey winced, pulled her hand from his, and moved past him into Juliet’s room, but was stopped by Nathan’s hand on her arm, pulling her back. She looked down at his hand, and then looked questioningly into his eyes.

“Audrey, wait.”

“Nathan, come on. I want to see how Juliet is.”

Nathan shook his head. “She’s been fine this long without you, she can survive a few minutes more. We need to talk.” Nathan looked in at Juliet to see that she was still occupied and then pulled Audrey a little further away from the door. “Where have you been? Why would you leave Juliet like that? You didn’t even wake me before you left this morning.”

Audrey pulled her arm away from Nathan, and brought both arms around to hug herself, not able to meet Nathan’s eye. “Nathan…”

Nathan reached over and pulled her chin so that she would have to look at him. “No, you need to tell me. I don’t appreciate you just up and leaving. We’re a team, both personally and professionally, and you can’t just abandon that.” Dropping his hand from her chin, Nathan grabbed both of Audrey’s arms, pulling her closer to him. “Look, I know you’re scared, but I’m scared too. But we can fix this Audrey. You and I, together. We’ll figure out what’s going on, and we’ll fix it.”

Audrey looked past Nathan towards Juliet. “What are we going to tell her?”

Nathan sighed. “We’re going to tell her that there are things called the Troubles, and that she and I have them, but that you and I will protect her from them always. That’s all she needs to know right now.”

Audrey looked back up at Nathan. “What are we going to do?”

“We are going to figure this out.” Nathan let his hands drop from Audrey so that he could turn and look at Juliet. “Someone’s going to have to look after her for the next few days, and I just don’t trust Duke.”

“Nathan…”

“No, this is something I need to do, but you need to be there too. She needs her mother. And we’ll both start pulling strings to see what we can find.” Nathan turned back to Audrey. “It really pissed me off that you left us this morning. I know you want to figure out what’s going on, and I do too. But we’ll only be able to do this if we do it together. Understand?”

Audrey could only nod. She knew Nathan would be angry, but he rarely ever vocalized that anger to her.

“Good. Now let’s go see our daughter.” Nathan turned to follow Audrey into the room, but stopped to lean against the door. His anger was boiling just beneath the surface, and he knew a lot of it had to do with fear. He felt slightly better now that he and Audrey seemed to be on the same page, but still, something wasn’t right.  

Nathan watched as his two girls embraced and could hear Audrey teasing Juliet, causing the little girl to fall into a fit of giggles. His heart began to feel a little lighter, but that seed of dread continued to grow, and he couldn’t help but worry as he watched the girls interact.

\-------------------------------------------

As Nathan leaned back in the uncomfortable hospital chair - which he was grateful he couldn’t feel - watching Audrey sitting next to Juliet on the bed reading her a goodnight story, he replayed the day in his head. Even though Audrey hadn’t been there when Juliet woke up, she had stayed all day, even making him be the one to leave and get food. She had talked about everything with their little girl, and was the perfect mom she always had been. Even though he could tell that she was trying to keep all negativity out of the room – which kind of bothered him, because she never did say what she had been up to all morning – she eventually tackled the elephant in the room, and started explaining to Juliet about what the Troubles were. Audrey of course weaved it into a fantastical story, but made sure the little girl knew that there were very real truths to what she was saying. Thankfully, she left out all of the scary Troubles – they would continue to shield Juliet from those until the day they died – but she told her everything else. Finally, it had come to her explaining to Juliet about what was going on with the little girl, and had looked to Nathan for support. He had jumped in and carefully explained to his daughter what her life would now be like. It of course didn’t seem to really affect the little girl – she was only six after all – but at least they had bridged the first conversation. He knew that there would be many more like this in the weeks and months to come as Juliet adjusted to her new life. Nathan was already imagining countless injuries and trips to the hospital, and he was already wondering if there was a way they could pad her room and just keep her there until the Troubles went away again.

He shook his head slightly as Audrey finished the book they were reading, and laid it on the table next to the bed. She pulled Juliet close to her and kissed the top of her forehead. “Are you getting sleepy Juliet?”

“Mmmhmm.” Juliet nodded her head against Audrey’s side.

Nathan could see her eyes drooping and knew she would be asleep in a couple short minutes.

As Juliet snuggled into Audrey, she quietly whispered, “Mommy, your skin is always so soft.” Her breath evened out as she fell into a deep sleep.

Audrey and Nathan locked eye contact, and stayed silent for a few heartbeats. It was Nathan that broke the silence.

“She can feel you too.”

\------------------

 


	12. Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Totally don’t own these characters, or this world. I just like to be a part of it.
> 
> Author’s Notes: Heads up – time shift again. 
> 
> Thanks as always to my beta, who makes sure I keep these guys in character.
> 
> Here’s the promised Tuesday update!

****

** Home **

It was finally time to make the move back to his house to continue healing, and Nathan fought their insistence that he sit in a wheelchair out to the car, but secretly was happy they made him sit there. Just the effort it took to move from the bed to the chair left him dizzy and disorientated - not to mention the ordeal of changing his clothes. At least for that part, he was alone with Audrey, and she helped him. She let him take his time, and didn’t make any comments when he said he needed a few moments. She just let him rest, and then helped with the next item of clothing. He could feel ( _feel!_ ) himself blush when she helped him with his pants, but at the same time, it felt like the most natural thing in the world, and wasn’t even remotely awkward as one would expect from your partner of the opposite sex helping you get dressed. When they finished, she sat perched beside him on the side of the bed and ran her fingers through his hair as he laid his head on her shoulder. It was amazing how much time and energy it took to simply dress oneself after having major surgery.

But even with the discomfort that the hospital brought, Nathan almost didn’t want to leave. From what he knew, Audrey hadn’t left his side the whole time he had been in the hospital, and it had been so comforting to know that she was always there. For once, he didn’t have to worry about her safety, because she was always with him. He knew that she had to have left at some point though, because she was wearing different clothes, and looked like she had been able to take a shower or two at some point. He knew that someone was bringing her food – probably Duke – but she ate in his room, even sneaking him some contraband food once in a while. They had almost been caught once, and it made his heart swell when he watched a flush creep over her face as she tried to explain to the nurse why there was clearly more containers in her possession than any one human could ever eat.

A couple of times he woke up in the dead of night, and he could see her pouring over case files in the dim light of his room. She would invariably have her hair tied up in a ponytail or bun that had been secured with a pencil, and would be tapping a pen against her temple as she concentrated on what was in front of her. Nathan cherished those small moments of silence where he could just watch her, and truly revel in the fact that she was still here with him, and was sticking around as he healed. He didn’t dare  ask her what the files were she was working on, because then she would have known he was watching her – the files were never around during the day – and he didn’t have the energy to know anyways. He knew that if she told him, he would want to be up and trying to solve whatever was going on outside the walls of his hospital room, and at the moment, he wanted to be selfish and let the rest of the department handle everything. He felt a little guilty that Audrey was probably handling his workload as he recovered, but the pain medication he was taking would usually force him to forget any guilt as it pulled him back under.

He asked her a few times what happened that day. He knew that the Troubles were gone, but she didn’t know much more than he did. She must have been asking people while he was resting, but she wasn’t letting on what she knew, and he assumed she didn’t want him to worry. And really, how much did he really want to know? She was here, and his Trouble was gone. That’s pretty all he could ask for. And didn’t they saying go, curiosity killed the cat? That seemed like a good enough reason right there not to dig into things any further than what they needed to.

But now, it was time to leave, and of course Duke had to show up. Nathan knew Audrey must have asked for Duke’s help, because as much as he wanted to believe he was totally fine, the sheer act of dressing himself proved otherwise, and  there was no way she would have been able to support Nathan all by herself as they moved from location to location. But it still bugged him that Duke was there. The only thing that kept his bitterness down was knowing that Duke would eventually leave, and it would allow him to be alone with Audrey once again, because he was pretty sure she wasn’t going anywhere for a while. And that thought made him smile.

She walked beside him down the hallway, and Duke pushed the wheelchair along. They went out the doors, and Nathan nodded to the nurses who were waving goodbye to him. He lightly brushed his fingers against her leg and looked up at her, because as much as she had to know he only had eyes for her, he wanted to fully assure her that was the case. Neither one had brought up the nature of their relationship, but after the kiss she had given him in the field outside the Barn, and by the simple fact that she hadn’t left his side since then, Nathan was fairly certain that their relationship had fully changed into definitely more-than-friends territory. He couldn’t wait to explore what that actually meant.

“Ok, you two wait here. I’ll go get the car and bring it around.” Duke set the brakes on the wheelchair, and sauntered off towards the other end of the parking lot, nodding at a few of the nurses who were heading in for their first shift of the day.

Even though there was a definite chill in the air, Nathan closed his eyes and tilted his head back so that he could feel the warmth of the sun caress his face. He felt like his life was beginning anew, and he couldn’t wait to start it. He opened his eyes and looked over at his partner. She was smiling down at him, and the way the sun glistened off her blonde curls made her look completely angelic. Nathan still couldn’t believe that she was actually here, and that she was here for him. He tugged at her hand so that she would lean down towards him, and he leaned up to give her a tender kiss on the lips. It was a moment so serene that it tugged at his heart. Everything was perfect.

He heard the car pull up, and pulled away slightly to look deeply into Audrey’s eyes. He grinned at her, and the way she was looking at him made his heart jump. He wasn’t even sure they needed to actually discuss anything in regards to what was now between them. It seemed like they both already knew what the other was thinking, and were both totally comfortable with where they were.

“Ok, ok you two. Break it up. Some of us have places to be.”

Audrey stood up, and Nathan glared at Duke’s smug grin, but he couldn’t be too upset. Duke had taken time out of his day to come help. Their relationship was also subtly shifting, and while he didn’t think he could ever fully trust Duke, Nathan knew that he had to let at least a little of his anger towards the man go - even if Duke was only helping because Audrey had asked him.

It was a struggle to get into the jeep. Who knew that getting shot hurt so much? But they managed to get him in, and Audrey climbed over him to get in the back seat. She spent the whole ride leaning forward with her arms wrapped around his neck in a gentle hug, and her cheek pressed against his ear. He kept one hand rested on her forearm, and the other holding onto the door so that his body didn’t shift too much with each turn of the car.

“Damn it Duke, take it easy on those turns.”

Duke shot a quick grin in Nathan’s direction. “Come on Nathan, you haven’t felt much of anything in forever. Embrace the pain. Think of it as a new beginning.”

Nathan set his jaw and mumbled under his breath. “I’d embrace the pain in my knuckles caused by your face right about now.”

“What was that Nathan? I couldn’t hear you over the violin strings I’m hearing all of a sudden.”

When Audrey felt Nathan’s body tense as if it was getting ready to twist and turn on Duke, she deftly jumped into the conversation. “Boys! Seriously? Now is not the time. Let’s at least get Nathan home before you two start anything.”

Nathan relaxed, but tensed quickly again when he caught Duke winking at him. Only Audrey’s arms pulling him back in his seat stopped him from turning on Duke, bullet wounds or not.

Finally, Duke pulled into Nathan’s front yard and parked as close as he could to the front porch.

And if they thought getting Nathan into the jeep was tough, they were only kidding themselves, because getting out of the jeep was twice as difficult - mostly because Nathan still didn’t have all his strength, and practically collapsed on Audrey. And with no wheelchair to dump him in, Audrey had to hold him up until Duke ran back from opening the front door.

The two of them finally managed to get Nathan into his house, and deposited him on the sofa. Audrey blew out a breath to blow her hair out of her eyes, and put her hands on her hips while surveying her surroundings. She had only been in Nathan’s house a couple of times – they had always spent the bulk of their free time at hers – so she only had a vague sense of where everything was. She had a feeling though she would soon know every nook and cranny of this place, and that feeling had a warm sensation swirling through her. She shook her head to bring her thoughts back to the here and now. “Duke, can you help me gather some things together for Nathan? Then I know you need to get back to the Gull.”

Duke glanced at Audrey before focusing on Nathan, while forming a lopsided grin. “Of course. I’d never give up a chance to rifle through Nathan’s things. I’m excited to see what I can find.”

Audrey punched the back of Duke’s shoulder as Nathan glared back. “Stop it. Come on.”

Nathan could hear them bickering as they walked down his hallway and out of earshot. He couldn’t wait for them to get back, and for Duke to leave so he could just sit in his own home with the girl of his dreams right beside him. He was willing to be injured for the rest of his life if that meant that Audrey would never leave his side. He felt his eyelids shut of their own accord, and he meant to close them for just a second, but his body had other plans. The pain medication he had been taking all week was really taking its toll on him. He just wasn’t used to having to take anything to dull the pain, and so it was hitting harder than it probably normally would. It just felt so good to be home and know that even if he wasn’t fully sure why everything was as it was, it was ok by him.

\-----------------------------

The crash from the kitchen startled him from his sleep, and his eyes flew open to see Audrey looking guilty as she bent down to pick up the pot from the ground she had dropped. She quickly put it on the counter, and moved over to Nathan. She sat down on the sofa beside him and pushed the hair from his forehead, leaning down to give him a quick kiss. “Sorry about that. Duke came by about an hour ago to drop off dinner, but I didn’t want to wake you. I was just going to rewarm it, and my hand slipped.”

Nathan smiled up at her and tucked a lock of blonde hair behind her ear. “I love you.” The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them, and while he didn’t regret them, he did feel a pain of regret at the timing of them. Why did he have to say them now? Everything was finally as he wanted it to be, and a momentary lapse in judgment could have far reaching consequences. As Nathan looked into her eyes, searching for hints of an imminent departure, he fully expected her to pull away - for her to make up some excuse as to why she had to leave so she wouldn’t have to deal with the heaviness of the situation. But she didn’t. She just returned his smile, and traced her fingers lightly over his forehead, brushing away an imaginary lock of hair.

“I love you too.”

Nathan closed his eyes to let her words and that moment just wash over him. This was it. This was that moment he had been living his whole life for, even if he didn’t know it. He opened his eyes and saw her looking down at him and was just struck by how beautiful she was. Even though she had obviously been through hell these past few weeks – and then some – she was just perfect. He tugged at her hand, guiding her to lay down with him. “Come here.” All he wanted to do in that moment was hold her, and banish away the worry lines that were etching her face, and the deep purple circles under her eyes that let him know she had definitely been working overtime while he was in the hospital – more than likely on work he should have been doing.

Audrey bit her lower lip, looking at him with worry in her eyes. “Nathan, I don’t want to hurt you. There’s not much room.”

Nathan tugged again and shook his head. “I don’t care. I just need to feel you beside me for a bit.”

“But, your dinner…”

“It’s already cold. It can stay cold awhile longer. Please Parker.”

She just couldn’t say no, so she tentatively laid down on her side the sofa next to Nathan, draping her one leg over his, her arm over his chest – higher on his body than his injuries – and nestled her face in the crook of his neck, breathing in the scent that was uniquely him. He wrapped one arm around her shoulders and pulled her as close to him as he could, and then painfully brought his other arm around her too so that he had her in the best embrace he could handle at the moment. He could feel her sigh in contentment next to him, and he did the same, letting his eyes slip closed again. The warmth from her body, and the warmth from the fire she must have started at some point that he could now feel, lulled him into a deep sleep. He was safe. He was home.

\----------------------------


	13. A New Discovery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Totally don’t own these characters, or this world. I just like to be a part of it.
> 
> Author’s Notes: Heads up – time shift again.
> 
> Sorry about the lag in an update. A last minute business trip derailed everything for me. But, back to our regularly scheduled programming…

** A New Discovery **

Juliet was probably more excited about the wheelchair ride down to the car than anyone Nathan had ever seen. She definitely didn’t seem like either his or Audrey’s daughter in that moment, because both of them always fought tooth and nail about being wheeled out of the hospital, even though both had reluctantly done so during their respective major trips to the hospital – his after the gun battle at the Barn, and hers after Juliet’s birth.

Juliet however, was having the time of her life. It probably also helped that Duke was pushing the chair – Nathan was terrified of tipping it over since he couldn’t feel again, and Audrey had just given over the reigns – and was racing her through the halls, pulling wheelies, and generally making Nathan’s heart constrict in his chest, even if he couldn’t feel it. But it was filling the hallways with gleeful giggles and shouts of, “Do it again! Do it again!” from Juliet, so Nathan was letting it happen.

The doctor had insisted that Juliet stay in the hospital for a total of four days, and Nathan was so happy to be finally bringing her home. Trying to keep a six year old little girl in the same bed for multiple days was exhausting. Thankfully Duke had taken it upon himself to relieve both Nathan and Audrey for hours at a time so they could alternate going home to freshen up, and to just get outside in general. Aside from that first day, Audrey had avoided the station and had been at the hospital almost non-stop, but Nathan knew that she had been working on the sly whenever he hadn’t been watching her. He wanted to be upset about her split focus, but he knew that she needed that distraction, or she would have driven herself (and him) mad.

As soon as they made it out front, Duke leaned down and whispered something in Juliet’s ear that left her bouncing in the wheelchair as he ran off to get his jeep. Nathan shook his head and snorted. “What did he say baby girl?”

Juliet looked up at her father, crossing her arms and shaking her head. “I’ll never tell Daddy. It’s a secret between me and Uncle Duke.”

Audrey chuckled, and grabbed Nathan’s hand, tugging it so that he would look down at her and give her a kiss. “Leave it be, daddy. I’m sure it’s nothing scandalous.”

Nathan grinned against Audrey’s lips, and leaned his forehead against hers before sighing. “You never can tell with that guy.” He heard the car pull up, and pulled away from Audrey to look at Juliet. “Ok Juliet, you ready?”

The little girl looked up at him and nodded vigorously. “I want to sit up front with Uncle Duke.”

Nathan scooped Juliet up in his arms and shook his head. “Juliet, you know you can’t sit up there. It’s not safe for you to sit in the front. You can sit in the back with Mommy.” Audrey had already climbed in behind Duke, and was reaching for Juliet.

“But Uncle Duke _always_ lets me sit up front with him.”

The look that Nathan gave Duke had daggers shooting out of his eyes. For his part, Duke smiled uncomfortably and shrugged his shoulders while giving the most annoying smile ever. “Kids just say the darndest things, don’t they?” Nathan narrowed his eyes at Duke while passing Juliet back to Audrey, who he looked at for support, but could see she was fighting a losing battle to suppress a grin. He didn’t even have her for backup on this one.

“You do know it’s illegal to let a child ride up front, right?” Nathan wouldn’t even look at Duke as he reached back for his seatbelt.

Duke leaned back towards Juliet and whispered, “Hey Bug, I thought we agreed that was our little secret.”

A red blush blossomed on Juliet’s face, and she looked down into her lap. “Sorry Uncle Duke.”

Audrey rubbed Juliet’s arms and leaned in close to her. “Don’t worry baby girl. I’ll make sure Daddy forgets he heard you say that.” When her daughter looked up at her with relief flooding her big, blue eyes, Audrey had a brief moment when she felt that absolutely everything would be ok in the world. And for good measure, Audrey leaned across the seat and flicked Nathan’s ear. He immediately reacted from the unexpected pain and pulled away, while Juliet laughed. Crisis averted.

\---------------------

When it came down to it, Audrey felt guilty about not feeling guilty about being at the office instead of at home. It was really against her nature anyways to be at home all day, but with Juliet still recovering, she really should be working from there instead of at the office. But, here she was, and she knew that this is where she needed to be. And frankly, after the argument she and Nathan had had, she felt even better being away from him for a while.

After Duke had dropped them off the day before, Nathan had gone next door to retrieve Peanut, while she got Juliet cocooned in a blanket on the sofa in front of the TV. The family had been content to just relax with each other that night, and called it an early night.

Sleep had not forthcoming to Audrey though, because her brain was firing on all cylinders, trying to come up with a reason as to why the Troubles were back.

The past few days had been a whirlwind. The first morning Juliet had been in the hospital, Audrey had snuck out early, because she had to see if Duke and Dwight had learned anything overnight. She had travelled with Duke to the site of the Barn, and confirmed her assumptions that nothing was there. Not even a depression in the ground suggesting that it had been there recently. Duke had put his arm around her shoulders and held her close, telling her that this was probably a good thing. She wasn’t so sure though. To her, all that meant was that she wouldn’t have to leave at that exact moment. Not that anything had come back.

Next up was the station, where she and Dwight had started the morning fielding various phone calls – both simultaneously hoping that one would be Troubled, but at the same time finding relief when none were. She had been ready to pack up and get back to the hospital, giving up on anything happening for the day when a call came in that peaked her interest. She grabbed Dwight, and the two of them drove out to the town line where a mist was emanating from the ground. As she looked out towards the water, she could see the mist hugging the borders of the town, and it reminded her of when Haven was trapped in a snow globe.

The mist hadn’t seemed dangerous, or all that threatening, but it was their first solid evidence of a new Trouble in town, and they had spent the next few hours tracking down the person causing it. Turns out, the local elementary school was having a science fair, and Jim Jackson was helping his daughter with her volcano, but couldn’t get the dry ice to work properly. He had gotten so worked up about failing his daughter since he only had custody of her for a couple of weeks each year that he had ended up creating a dry ice effect all over town. Once Dwight had gotten the volcano working, the mist had dissipated, and the Trouble was over for the day.

And with that over, Dwight had shoved Audrey into her car, shooing her to the hospital, with a promise that he’d call her as soon as he heard a report of another Trouble. So, she had stayed at the hospital with her family, constantly checking her phone for a call, but nothing ever came. Both a blessing, and a curse.

So when Audrey had woken up early this morning, and had tried to sneak out from under Nathan’s arm, his newly heightened senses had roused him, and he had tightened his grip on her and had asked just where in the hell she thought she was going. She tried calmly explaining that she needed to get back to the office, but he wasn’t buying it, and they had ended up arguing. He fully felt that she needed to be home with her daughter, and anything she could do at the station, she could do at home, while she fully felt that Nathan should be the one to stay at home with Juliet, because he would be able to answer any of her questions much more intelligently than Audrey ever could, so not taking this opportunity to be at the station was stupid. Essentially, they were rehashing the same argument they had at the hospital on Juliet’s first day there.

Their voices had obviously risen to the level loud enough that they had woken up Juliet, because suddenly she was standing in their bedroom doorway, Peanut dancing around her feet, and the glare between the two adults promised each other that this argument wasn’t over. Nathan got out of bed to make breakfast for Juliet, and Audrey had slipped into the bathroom to get ready for the day.

And so here she was, feeling guilty about not feeling guilty about being at the station. She and Nathan rarely ever fought, but they seemed to be doing a lot of it the past few days, with each argument more tense than the last.

“What are you still doing here? It’s late. Shouldn’t you be at home?”

Dwight’s voice pulled Audrey from her musings, and she looked up to see him standing in her office doorway with his arms crossed over his massive chest. She couldn’t help but notice that he once again had his bullet proof vest on, and it made her heart twist a little in her chest.

“Nathan and I decided that it was probably best he stay home with Juliet today while I come in here to see if I can make any progress on what’s going on.” She didn’t sound convincing to even herself, so she knew that Dwight wouldn’t believe her either.

“Mmmhmm.”

Nope, not at all, which only made her feel that much guiltier. So she did all she could do, which was sigh.

“I know, I’m a horrible person, but I need to figure this out, Dwight. I mean, what exactly is going on?” Audrey put her elbows on her desk, and dropped her head into her hands, pushing her hair out of her face so that she could look closer at the files in front of her. If she could just find some piece that would link something, anything together, then maybe she could figure it all out. At that moment, her computer beeped, and Audrey straightened up. She scanned the email she had just received, and couldn’t stop herself. “Holy shit.”

Dwight straightened himself in the doorway and took a step towards her. “What is it?”

Audrey pointed at her screen, while waving Dwight over so he could see what she was looking at. “Is that…?”

Dwight quickly scanned through the arrest report that was on the screen in front of him and his heart both leapt and dropped at the same moment. There, standing in a mugshot, was a man that looked very similar to the Colorado Kid. Someone who could have easily been his twin. Someone who may as well been him. “It can’t be him.”

Audrey looked up at Dwight as he hovered over her shoulder. “You’re kidding me, right?”

“Audrey, you shouldn’t get your hopes up.” Dwight pointed to the screen. “Look, the arrest records list this guy as Cole Hather. And this guy has long, dark hair. He could almost be related to Duke if you look closely.”

“So you’re saying it’s not him just because his name and hair are different? Dwight, come on. Mine are different every time I come back too. This is him, I know it. I need to get down there and see him.” Audrey quickly stood up and moved around her desk towards her jacket, but was stopped by Dwight’s powerful hand on her arm. “What are you doing?”

“Audrey, you can’t go there.”

“Why the hell not?”

“First of all, if you noticed the arrest date on the record, it was for yesterday. He was arrested for public intoxication Audrey. They would have held him in the drunk tank overnight, and released him today. He would already be long gone.”

Audrey’s eyes widened at Dwight’s words. Dammit. She hadn’t noticed what the arrest date was. Some detective she was. But she had been completely distracted by seeing James on her screen. Her son. Why had the email come in almost a day later? Damn Portland Police department. They’re a big city. Shouldn’t they have better records than that?

Dwight continued talking, but dropped his voice down so that it was much quieter than usual. Most likely for Audrey’s benefit, as there were still officers walking around. “And second, as I’m sure you haven’t noticed, it’s almost 10pm. Shouldn’t you be getting home?”

Double dammit. She hadn’t noticed the time. Nathan was going to kill her. She pulled her phone out of her back pocket to see how many missed calls or texts she had, and seeing she had none from Nathan made her realize how angry he really was. She sighed, and felt Dwight loosen his grip on her arm. “This could be the key Dwight. I need to go to Portland to find him. He’s there. This is the key we’ve been waiting for.”

“Audrey, why don’t we plan to drive out there tomorrow. We won’t get anything done tonight. I would suggest just waiting, because you know if this is actually James, he’s going to end up in Haven no matter what, but I know you won’t wait that long.”

Audrey wanted to argue, but knew Dwight was right. What would she do when she got to Portland? Pound on some poor guy’s door at 2 in the morning and it end up not being James? That would not bode well. “Fine. We’ll head out there tomorrow morning. In the meantime, I’m going to set up a search for people named Cole Hather. At least this is a thread we didn’t have an hour ago.”

Dwight gave her a quick nod. “Good. Don’t stay too much later Audrey. This isn’t your only family anymore.”

Audrey had rounded her desk again, and was leaning over typing her query into her computer, but looked up at Dwight. “I know.”

\--------------------------

Nathan could count on one hand the number of times he and Audrey had fallen asleep angry at each other. He could add tonight however, to that tally.  
  
No matter what they went through, or what they were arguing about, it had all seemed to fade away with the setting of the sun. Even if they were still pissed at each other in the morning, the night always seemed to alleviate their frustrations. For those few hours when it was darkest, they always seemed to find each other.   
  
He had already been aggravated that he had had to spend his whole day at home with Duke of all people, but it bothered him more and more, the longer Audrey had stayed at the station. It was like she was unilaterally deciding he should be the stay at home parent, and that wasn’t ok. Especially when they had already agreed to work together on whatever it was that was going on. And then, Duke had to leave to prepare the Gull for the evening crowd, and Audrey still hadn't come home. Then, Manny had dropped off dinner for Nathan and Juliet, courtesy of Duke, and still Audrey hadn't come home. Then, Juliet couldn't keep her eyes open any longer waiting for her mother to come home, and Nathan had given her a bath, carried her to bed and tucked her in, and still Audrey hadn't come home. He had finally given up himself and was getting ready for bed when she finally stood in the door of their bedroom.   
  
He was both parts relieved and pissed when he saw her, but made no move to say anything to her. He could feel his eyes flare as they locked with hers for a brief moment, but then she was looking at the floor and brushing by him on the way to the restroom. And then the door had shut in his face.   
  
Anger was definitely winning out, and for the first time in forever, Nathan had no interest in talking to Audrey. Because at this point, any interaction they were going to have would be in the form of yet another argument, and he didn’t have the energy for that right now. Maybe in the morning they would be able to talk to each other civilly. So instead, he climbed into bed, and turned out the light. She could grope her way to the bed for all he cared. He stayed firmly on his side of the bed, turned on his side, with his back to the bathroom door and where she would eventually lie.   
  
After a few minutes, he heard the bathroom door open, and as a slight sense of vertigo hit him, he vaguely remembered that feeling came as his position was moved by some way. In this case, Audrey must have climbed into bed, causing the mattress to move slightly. Unsurprisingly, he didn't feel her touch, meaning she had stayed on her side, and the distance between them seemed cavernous. It was ironic, really. Their daughter had recently been fighting for her life. It was now of all times that the two of them should be closest. Leaning on each other for support. Holding the other up as the gravity of the situation weighed them down. But instead, they were pushing each other away. Both trying to stand on their own.   
  
So instead of reaching for his wife, he hugged himself, and after what seemed like hours, he let a sigh escape his lips. Sleep was not going to come easy for him tonight. It was always Audrey's steadying breathing that would lull him into unconsciousness, but he didn't even want to listen for her. It only made his lack of touch that much more terrifying. He rolled onto his back so that he could stare at the ceiling above him. Where had they gone so wrong? A few days ago, they had been so happy. He and Audrey had waved to Juliet as she drove off with Duke for a day of fishing, and he had kissed Audrey goodbye before climbing into the old Bronco to head off to Portland for a conference. He had actually been looking forward to it for a change, and knowing that Audrey would keep Haven running in his absence, he hadn't a care in the world. Then that phone call came and his world flipped upside down. If pressed, he wouldn't be able to pinpoint the exact moment his Trouble activated. It could have been while he was on the phone, it could have been on the endless drive back into Haven, or it could have been during the countless times he tried to contact Audrey and she wouldn't answer.   
  
Then it seemed like it was endless chaos, and during that time, Audrey seemed to be pulling further and further away from him. They had always been each other's rocks, but it now seemed like he was the last person on the planet she wanted to be around, and it tore at his heart. Here they were in the same room together - god, in the same bed together - but it felt like they had never been further apart. Even in those days he didn't want to think about, back when he had stumbled and ended up with Jordan, they had still somehow been closer than they seemed to be now.   
  
He wanted this distance to end, but he was too stubborn to be the one to do it. He knew Audrey well enough that she would do it, or it would never get done. No matter how much he bugged her, and no matter how much it killed him in the meantime.   
  
He couldn't believe that she could actually sleep right now. He wanted to roll over and shake her until she snapped back to reality, and since he was so engrossed in gearing himself up to do just that, her quiet voice made him jump.   
  
"Nathan? Are you awake?"  
  
God, her voice sounded so small and weak. It sounded like she had been fighting back tears this whole time they'd been in bed. All his frustrations towards her immediately flew out the window, and all Nathan wanted to do was reach out and pull her to him, gathering her body against his, and stroking her hair as he whispered words of encouragement in her ear. But he didn't. He knew it wasn't the time for that, so instead he nodded in the dark and answered her. "Mmmhmm."  
  
There was what seemed like an endless pause, and tension filled the air. But he wasn't going to be the one to fill the silence.   
  
When she spoke, he could barely hear her. Even in the absolute stillness of the night that can only be found in the early hours of the morning. "I'm sorry for being so distant lately, and being at the station. I know we’ve talked about working together, and I know I’m not doing that."  
  
He expected her to continue, but when she didn't, he gave the only reply he could in that moment without starting an argument. He was too tired to argue. "Hmm."  
  
The silence seemed to drag on, and weariness was finally winning over Nathan's frustrations. This obviously wasn't going anywhere fast, and he felt no need to propel it where he wanted it to go. He knew he'd have to get up early in the morning to re-practice making breakfast when not being able to feel anything. And at the same time, help his little girl learn about all these new experiences for the first time. Maybe her young age would prove to be an asset in this situation - she hadn't had a lot of time yet to be accustomed to too many things. Relearning may be easier. Either way, life was going to get a lot more difficult, and he needed to have a good night's sleep to even think about being able to tackle it. His eyes started drifting shut, and sleep started to overtake him.  
  
"I'm scared Nathan."  
  
Her voice had his eyes snapping open, and his heart starting to race, but he didn't dare move. He didn't even want to breathe and risk snapping the moment. He could hear her sniffle, and a fist tightened around his heart.   
  
"I'm so scared that this might be the time I'll really have to leave. I want so bad to not let you and Juliet out of my sight, but all of a sudden she's Troubled. And you're...you."   
  
He could hear her let out a watery sigh, and could hear her force a swallow down what had to have been a very dry throat. He licked his lips, wondering what she was going to say next. Damn Duke for being right. Why hadn't he been able to see how scared she was? She was his wife for god's sake.   
  
"I just keep thinking that if I can put the pieces together fast enough, I can make it stop. I can stay. But I know I should know better. I know I should be letting you help."  
  
She paused, and Nathan could hear her sniffle again. Once again, she was trying so hard to be brave, and to not break down and cry. And since she was his wife, he knew without a doubt that there were tears rolling down her cheeks at that very moment, and all she wanted was to be assured she was safe, and everything was going to be ok. But, as much as he wanted to believe that, how could he convincingly tell her that? He would though. He would, over, and over, just as he had done all those years ago, but deep down he was worried too. He couldn't imagine life without her. Just those few hours all those years ago when he had watched her walk into the Barn, and then his utter despair before he felt her in the hospital, had almost killed him. How would he ever be able to survive if she left permanently? How would he be able to look at their daughter, who was almost Audrey's clone? He didn't think he could, and that was killing him.   
  
"I don't want to go Nathan. I can't leave you."  
  
And that was it. As he heard her completely lose her resolve, the sobs wracking her small frame, he blindly groped his way across the bed until he felt something - until her felt her. He gathered her up in his arms and held her close, so close as her body shook from her fears. He stroked her hair and whispered encouragements in her ear. He kissed her temple and rocked her as he would Juliet until he felt her breathing steady and even out as she fell into a dreamless sleep.   
  
Suddenly he was wide awake, and had a new resolve. He was not going to let Audrey leave. They were going to figure out what was going on, and they were going to solve it.   
  
He stayed awake for another couple of hours, rocking Audrey as she slept, and stroking her hair. He had been wrong earlier. They would not fall asleep tonight angry at each other. And, in the morning, they were going to face this as a team, and they were going to win.

\-----------------------


	14. Getting Back to Normal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Totally don’t own these characters, or this world. I just like to be a part of it.
> 
> Author’s Notes: Heads up – time shift again. 
> 
> Thanks as always to my beta.
> 
> Here’s the promised Tuesday update!

** Getting Back to Normal **

“Where are we going?” Audrey watched as the “Thanks for Visiting Haven” sign passed by her window.

They had just finished a full day at the station and she was worried about Nathan being on his feet for so long. He had only been back a week, and she knew he still didn’t have the energy he normally did. But it had been good to be back. It was so nice to be back in the swing of things after taking so many weeks off. They both had needed it. Audrey had practically moved into Nathan’s house because she didn’t want to be away from his side. He didn’t want her away from his side either, so it had worked out. She would leave once a week to go back to her apartment to gather a few more things she had discovered she needed to bring back to the house. But they spent most of their time either in bed, or on the sofa, curled up in each other, dozing contently. It felt like neither of them had slept in months, and both of their bodies were crying for relief.

The first couple of weeks, Nathan would only move locations when he needed to, because his body was still healing, so Audrey had taken to doing their laundry, cooking, and tidying up when it was needed. She would combine grocery stops into her apartment runs so she would have to leave the house as few times as possible. By the end of the second week, Nathan was starting to get stir-crazy and started to putter around the house as much as he could, and eventually took over cooking duties. He soon began to accompany Audrey grocery shopping, and even went with her to her apartment once to help her change items out that she had brought from the house. They stopped at the Gull for dinner, and sat cozily at a corner table with a couple of beers. Nathan kept his hand on Audrey’s thigh under the table the whole time, just content to have her by his side in public.

Audrey turned to look expectantly at Nathan, and he shot her a quick grin before turning his attention back to the road. She settled herself against the door of the car so that she could just watch him as he drove. Every moment she was able to look at him, she would send a silent prayer up to whoever was up there that she could look at him like this. She was so close to never seeing him again – well, not as Audrey Parker anyways.

She was so content in her life right now. She hadn’t even let thoughts of the Troubles or of her past crash into her thoughts because she didn’t want to destroy the peace that had settled around her and Nathan. Not yet anyways. It seemed as though they had time to deal with that later. They suddenly had all the time in the world.  She had even consciously been avoiding the offices of the Herald, because she knew that any interaction with Vince or Dave would result in a conversation about the Troubles.

Audrey smiled as she noticed Nathan’s fingers drumming the steering wheel in time to the song that was softly playing on the radio. She remembered her dream of the two of them dancing in a cabin in the woods, and made a mental note to make sure that happened for real at some point. But until then, she was content to see her stoic partner mouth the words to the song. Smiling to herself, Audrey pulled back to look out the window and could see that they were at the edges of Bangor, and she straightened so that she could pay more attention to see if she could guess as to where they were going. As they got closer to the downtown core, Nathan pulled over and parked in front of a small clothing shop. Audrey raised an eyebrow, and he merely motioned with his head toward his door. “Come on.”

She climbed out of the Bronco, and met him on the sidewalk at the front of the truck, where he took her hand in his, and led her into the store. He pulled her to a rack of scarves and mittens. “Ok, pick a set that you like.”

Audrey looked up at him with a quizzical look. “Where are you taking me Wuornos? There’s no way you drove me all the way to Bangor to buy me a scarf and some mittens.”

Nathan leaned down and gave her a quick peck on the lips, and smiled against those same lips. “You’ll thank me later. Trust me.” He let go of her hand so that he could reach up and take down a black scarf and mittens for himself.

Audrey shrugged her shoulders, and scanned the choices in front of her. She finally settled on the bright red scarf and mittens since they would contrast nicely with her black coat. Nathan took them from her hands, led her up to the front desk, and took out his wallet to pay. He waved off the bag the young girl was going to put the merchandise in and walked out the door, handing Audrey’s to her while he put on his own. He smiled as Audrey fought with her scarf, so he took pity on her and deftly wrapped it around her face and neck, and tucked it into her jacket. He loved the way her blonde curls poofed out the top of the scarf, and he pulled her in for a hug. Nathan pulled away slightly so they could walk, but kept her tucked under this arm, and felt a tug at his heart as he felt her arm snake around his waist. They came to the corner where a man was selling coffee out of a cart, and Nathan stopped to pull out his wallet.

“Two black coffees please.”

He exchanged money for coffee with the man, and handed one to Audrey. Her nose was already turning pink in the cold weather, but he knew she would appreciate where they were going. They turned the corner towards the park, and he could hear her gasp beside him at the same time she squeezed his hand tighter. He was right, she loved it.

In front of them was one of the grandest displays of Christmas lights in the area. Nathan had wanted to bring her here pretty much immediately after the first set of lights in Haven had gone up and she had mentioned how much she loved looking at Christmas lights.

They walked together for a couple of hours just ooh’ing and aww’ing at the lights, and would have kept walking if the cold hadn’t seeped through their bones, and they had started to realize how weary they actually were. At least it was Friday, and they didn’t have to go to work in the morning.

As they climbed into the truck and Audrey cranked the heaters, she looked over and gave him the widest grin he’d seen in a while. “Nathan, that was incredible. Thank you so much for bringing me here.” Audrey leaned over and squeezed his hand, and gave him a kiss on the cheek. She settled back into her seat, and pulled on her seatbelt. “I would love to have a tree like one of those that we saw.”

Nathan looked over at her as he put the truck into reverse and got on the road. “Well, why don’t we get one then? We’ll pick one up on our way back into town.”

“But Nathan, it’s so late! We don’t have to get one.”

Nathan shot her a grin. “If you want a tree, I’m getting you a tree.”

Audrey couldn’t believe how she managed to find a man who was so focused on making her happy. It made her want to do anything for him. In a way, she guessed she had already brought him back from the dead. Twice. So, there really wasn’t anything she wouldn’t do for him either. Such crazy lives they both led.

\---------------------

The actual choosing of the Christmas tree was fairly uneventful, and Nathan paid the guy an extra $20 so he wouldn’t have to load the tree himself. He told Audrey it would be easier to get it out than in, and he could handle that. And he did, and as she warmed up milk on the stove for some hot chocolate, he had put the tree up in the corner by the fireplace and had pulled out all his boxes of decorations. Her body was weary after such a long day, but the warmth from the fire was waking her up, and she really did want to decorate the tree side by side with Nathan.

She turned on the radio to a Christmas station, and the two of them worked in perfect sync to finish the tree. When they were finished, they collapsed on the sofa together, and sat back to admire their perfect tree. The only illumination in the house came from the fire that was burning bright, and the blinking multicolored lights on the tree. With carols playing softly in the background, it was a perfect moment. Nathan wrapped his arm around Audrey’s shoulders and pulled her closer to him. They leaned their heads against each other and just stared at the tree. Nathan’s heart was swelling with desire for the woman next to him, and he nuzzled his nose in her hair. “Merry Christmas, Parker.”

Audrey sighed in content and pulled back so she could cup Nathan’s face in her hands. She looked him deep in the eyes. “Merry Christmas, Nathan.” She closed the distance between the two, and lightly touched her lips to his before resting her forehead against his, allowing herself to revel in the perfect moment – a moment that she never would have thought possible only a few short weeks ago.

It had been an incredible evening, but Nathan wanted more, and Audrey’s lips on his unleashed the ripples of desire that had been strumming through his body since the moment she brought him home. Ripples that his healing body would not allow him to act on, but tonight…tonight, he didn’t care. He tangled one hand in Audrey’s hair behind her head, pulling her lips once again to his, allowing him to deepen the kiss. Her skin began to heat up under his touch, and as her body melted into his, he slowly pushed her down onto the sofa, and snuck a hand under the hem of her shirt so that he could fan his fingers over her skin. Audrey gasped at the contact, her body arching into his touch, and because she ached to feel him too, she reached with both hands beneath his shirt, trailing her fingers up and down his sides. Nathan shuddered at the contact, and let his tongue dance with hers.

Audrey pulled her hands up even further, taking Nathan’s shirt off with them. With their contact broken as Nathan’s shirt came over his head, Audrey was able to look at the scars on his chest, and lightly traced her fingers along the puffy skin. When she felt him stiffen under her touch, she pulled her hand back quickly, and looked up at Nathan with questioning eyes, worry clearly visible in them. “Nathan, are you sure? We can wait. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

Nathan’s eyes were dusky pools of desire, and his voice came out low and husky. “Audrey, I have never been more sure about anything in my life.”

\-------------------

Afterwards, as they laid together on the sofa, Audrey dozed on Nathan’s chest as he absently traced patterns down her back.

Nothing was going to tear them apart this time. Nothing.

_______________________

It was the first time they had really been apart in months, and so Audrey was taking the opportunity to get drunk at the Grey Gull. And it really helped that she knew the owner, so she was sure the night would end without a massive bar tab.

Their fight had been a violent one. They had argued before, but they had done it then as partners, and as people who wanted to make sure the job was done right. Maybe slightly more than partners, but partners still the same. This time was different. They had argued as lovers whose personal safety of the other meant more than anything else. Curse words, accusations, and furniture had been thrown – all in the name of frustration more than anything else – but it had shown how far each was willing to go for the other, and that scared the crap out of her.

Duke leaned over the bar and stared at her until she finally looked up. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Audrey looked up from her fourth martini of the night, and had to concentrate to be able to see Duke in focus. “Nathan’s an idiot.”

Duke’s face melted into his famous grin. “Glad you came around, kid. I’ve been telling you that since the day we met.”

Audrey frowned down into her martini glass, and poked at the olives with the stick they came on.

Duke picked up a glass and started to wipe it down. He felt like Audrey just wanted to sit and stew, but he knew he couldn’t let her do that. Besides, if she kept drinking like she was, not only was she going to eat into his profits for the night, but he would more than likely end up holding her hair as she threw up all those profits. And, judging by the lack of her lap dog tonight, Duke knew that something serious had gone down between the two of them, so he would end up having to take care of her tonight. “So, what happened?”

Audrey took a deep sigh, and didn’t look up. She just kept poking at the olives that were dancing in her glass. “We had a case today. A simple case. Well, it should have been simple.”

Duke leaned over the bar, and scanned the room before quietly whispering to Audrey. “Audrey, all your cases should be simple now that the Troubles are gone.”

Audrey glanced up at him with a faint smile on her lips that quickly vanished when she started talking. “Right?” She looked back down at her drink and frowned. “We were called over to Buck’s Hardware because when he went to open this morning, he noticed that the window on the back door had been smashed in. When he went to check the office, the safe had been opened, and all his cash was missing. Simple B&E case. Or so we thought. Turns out, Buck had walked in on the guy, who hid in the back storage closet. As we were walking through the place to gather evidence, the guy jumped out to run. I happened to be closest to him, and he came at me with a knife. Nathan decided to be a hero and jump in front of me, having his arm sliced in the process.”

Duke expected no less of Nathan in that situation, and knew he would have done the exact same thing, so Audrey’s description didn’t even faze him. “Did you get the guy?”

Audrey shook her head. “No. In the ensuing chaos from Nathan forgetting he could feel, and me trying to make sure he was ok, the guy got away. We know who it is though. There were cameras everywhere, so I’m sure Stan will have picked him up by morning.”

Duke could only sigh. “So, as much as I want to be on your side on this, because I really do think that Nathan is an idiot, what exactly did he do wrong, and why are you here drinking me out of vodka instead of playing nurse to your boyfriend, who in case you missed it, saved you from being the slicee?” He had to move fast to get out of the way of Audrey’s palm that was aimed for his face. The drinks in her had definitely slowed her down a tad, but at least he got the reaction out of her he wanted.

“First, I feel like I should be angry at you for your comment about me playing nurse, especially with my background, but I can’t work up the energy to be angry at both of you. Second, Nathan is an idiot, because he could have gotten himself killed. He doesn’t need to play hero to me all the time. I could have handled it. He forgets that his Trouble isn’t there to help him anymore, and he’s taking unnecessary risks, which is careless, and stupid, and idiotic.” Audrey threw back the rest of the martini and circled her finger in the air when she caught the eye of the bartender Gord, signaling she wanted another round.

Duke turned to Gord and waved his hand low and behind his back so Audrey couldn’t see, telling Gord to hold off on that fifth martini.

“And I told him exactly that, and we ended up yelling at each other in the clinic.” Audrey looked at Duke out of serious eyes. Well, as serious as she could make them with so much alcohol swimming through her veins. “Furniture was thrown Duke. I’m pretty sure I should be embarrassed to go back there again, but thankfully these drinks are holding down any residual feelings on that right now.”

“So you guys had a fight. Audrey, it happens. And in your line of work, it’s going to keep happening. You two care way too damn much about each other, and it’s sickening to the rest of us, but it’s what makes you _that_ couple. The couple that is always there for each other no matter what. And unfortunately, since you’re _that_ couple, you’re going to end up with a little blood on each other from time to time, but you can’t cause that to drink yourself into oblivion. Go find him. Kiss and make up. Thank him for saving your life. And the next time you go on a B&E case, for God’s sake – check the closet before assuming you’re alone.”

Audrey sighed. She opened her mouth to speak, but jumped as the door to the bar slammed open. Even with all the people who had been coming and going all night through those same doors, she knew who it was immediately. It was like her body was finely tuned to his very presence. Looking over, her assumptions were confirmed. There stood Nathan in the doorway, arm bandaged up, with a look on his face that she couldn’t quite decide was anger or concern. She peeked at Duke, and saw his eyes widen a bit at the sight of Nathan. It must be anger she was seeing. Not good. She turned back to Duke in the small hope that she was just imagining Nathan standing there and that she could avoid this conversation for a little while longer.

Duke laid his hand on hers, and not so subtly whispered to her. “Well, looks like your hero is here to claim you. But please, no furniture throwing in here. I have a friend who has been drinking through my profits tonight, and I can’t afford to replace anything.”

Nathan made eye contact with Audrey when she quickly glanced back towards the door, and headed immediately in her direction. When he made it to the bar, Duke opened his mouth to speak, but quickly shut it because he could see this was a moment he didn’t need to be a part of. So he smiled at Nathan, and made his way to the other end of the bar where a regular was gesturing for another round.

“Parker.” Nathan’s voice was flat, causing Audrey to internally flinch, but she had turned her focus back to the bar top, and had no intention of looking at him right now.

She could feel anger begin to flare within her again. She wasn’t sure if the alcohol was helping or hurting her in this situation. “I’m not going to talk about it again Nathan. We’re never going to see eye to eye on this, so I don’t know what else to say.”

Nathan gripped her shoulders and turned her to him. And because she was being her usual stubborn self, he put his hand under her chin to lift it up so he could look her in the eyes. Stormy blue eyes met stormy blue eyes, and Nathan opened his mouth to talk, but couldn’t find the right words, so he stopped short. Instead, he straightened back up, and ran his hand through his hair as he turned in a small circle in frustration. He looked back at Audrey, who was sitting there with glassy eyes from what undoubtedly had been more than a couple of drinks, looking at him expectantly. Glancing around the bar and deciding that this wasn’t the place for this conversation, Nathan grabbed her hand, and tugged her off the barstool, automatically reaching out to steady her as her sense of equilibrium had obviously been drunk away hours before. “Whoa, Parker, how many did you have?” He glanced up at Gord, who became intently focused on wiping down the bar top.

Audrey shook off Nathan’s hands, and brushed by him, staggering only slightly, fully intent on just going up to her apartment and sleeping off this day. “That’s none of your business.”

Nathan looked towards the ceiling, sighed and prayed for strength before turning around to catch up to her. He caught her just as she was about to head up the stairs to her apartment – a place they hadn’t spent more than a night or two in the past few months, and mainly only because they were too buzzed to safely drive back to his place. He grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the back patio of the Gull, and put his hands on her elbows, bending his head down so that he could try to make eye contact. “Look, Parker, I don’t know what to say. I saw my partner in danger – I saw you in danger, and I just reacted.”

Audrey looked out towards the water and tried to focus her fuzzy brain. This was not a conversation she wanted to be having right now. She was still upset about the day in general, and deep down she knew Duke was right, but her damn stubbornness was not allowing her to bend. The alcohol had definitely smoothed down the rough edges of her anger, but hadn’t fully suppressed it. “Nathan, I know, but like I said before, what you did was dangerous. You could have gotten yourself killed, and that can’t happen. You need to realize you’re not impervious to pain anymore either, so you’re going to feel it. It’s going to slow you down. And honestly, if you’re always going to do something dumb like that when I’m around, I don’t want to be working on cases with you anymore. Maybe this is something we need to discuss. Maybe we’re too close now, and should put some distance between each other when we’re at work. It’s a distraction to both of us.”

Nathan’s heart constricted at Audrey’s words. What she was saying made total sense. They _were_ too close to make rational decisions in the throes of chaos, but isn’t that what had made them so effective as a team in the first place? They were always there for each other, no matter what. They trusted each other implicitly, which made it that much easier to dive headfirst into any situation, because no matter what, one would always be there for the other. And he knew he had to stop risking his life for her, but realistically, he knew he would take a bullet for her every single time. And because of that, he never wanted her away from his side - either personally, or professionally. “Audrey.” Nathan touched his fingers to Audrey’s cheek, and gently guided her field of view to situate on him. “I’m sorry about how I reacted with you today. You just frustrate the hell out of me sometimes. I’m always protecting you because you never seem to care about your own safety and that scares me. I can’t even imagine you getting injured, and you just don’t seem to think sometimes.”

Audrey opened her mouth to speak, but Nathan just kept going.

“I never want to be working without you by my side. I feel like neither of us will be effective that way. Look, I promise to be more careful out there, but you need to promise me that you will be as well. And you need to understand that if something does happen, my natural instinct is always going to be to protect you, and you can’t fault me for that.”

Audrey looked up into Nathan’s eyes, and could feel her own misting over. Damn alcohol, she thought. She shook her head to try to clear the fog in her brain, and was starting to regret the fourth (fifth?) martini she had. Her anger at Nathan was fading fast, and a lot of it was because the alcohol was making the butterflies in her stomach dance, and thoughts of Nathan lying above her were becoming much more overwhelming than any thoughts of anger towards him. She licked her suddenly dry lips and nodded. “Ok, I can agree to that. But I don’t want you throwing something across the room the next time you’re upset. It’s unsettling to see.”

Nathan leaned down and brushed his lips against hers. “I promise. Now come on, let’s go upstairs. My muscles are killing me, and all I can think of is sitting in a warm bath with you.” He grabbed her hand and led her towards the stairs, smiling as he ascended, hearing her teases about now knowing what she feels like after a long day.

As they settled into Audrey’s tub with her settled between his legs, and leaning back against his chest, Nathan could feel Audrey pass out from her overindulgence, and knew he’d end up carrying her to bed. But, that was ok, because they had survived their stubbornness for another day, and they would be better for it.

\------------------------------


	15. Tension

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Totally don’t own these characters, or this world. I just like to be a part of it.
> 
> Author’s Notes: Heads up – time shift again. 
> 
> Thanks as always to my beta, who forces me to keep these people in character.

** Tension **

The lamp flew across the room, crashing into the far wall, and Audrey couldn’t help but jump with the force of the impact, and tears threatened to fall. The last time this had happened it had been their first major fight as a couple, and she had been the cause of Nathan’s utter frustration, but this time, he was frustrated at the situation, and she couldn’t fault him for it, so she didn’t say anything. He knew that he had scared her though, and immediately came and pulled her into his body.

She had woken up that morning still cradled in Nathan’s arms, but could feel dried tears on her face. Her whole body hurt from being tense all day, and then sobbing all night. But, as much as they had been pulling apart from each other, she felt better knowing that Nathan had held her all night. She knew she wasn’t being fair to him, but she couldn’t help it. It was her natural defense.

He hadn’t said a word to her as they were getting ready, and when Duke showed up at their door, she realized that Nathan had called in reinforcements so he could go into the station with her, and see just exactly what she had been up to.

And that had led her explaining to him how she and Duke had gone out to the Barn site and it hadn’t been there, and how she had put a flag on anyone that fit James’ description and had gotten a hit last night and would have driven straight to Portland if Dwight hadn’t stopped her. She had seen him get more and more frustrated the longer she talked as he started out rubbing the back of his neck, and had progressed to pacing the small office. She thought that her admitting she was essentially out the door to Portland would have been the thing to set him off, but that had just merely pushed him to the edge. No, what finally threw him off was when she told him her theory that since the Barn had dumped James off, and had done it early, the Troubles were in fact back, ahead of schedule, and the only way to set the cycle back in place, was if the Barn took her this time.

And that’s when the lamp flew across the room.

She was in his arms as the office door flew open, and whoever had rushed in to check on them had quickly backed away and quietly re-closed the door when they had seen Nathan and Audrey in an embrace. She was thankful she couldn’t see who it had been, so she wouldn’t have to endure the embarrassment the next time she saw that person.

Nathan pushed her away, but held onto her arms. His anger was palpable, but he tried his best to not yell. “You are not going back in that Barn. We don’t even know if it’s coming back. And even if it does, you’re not going! How could you even think of such a thing? What about me? What about Juliet?” Every fiber in Nathan’s being wanted to shake the living daylights out of Audrey in that moment, but he managed to suppress the urge.

Audrey however, couldn’t keep her anger as much in check as Nathan, and her voice came out stronger than she intended. Anger was easier to latch onto in this situation anyways. Anything was better than the hopelessness that was crawling through her skin. “Juliet is _exactly_ why I’m thinking of going back in if I need to. I can’t have our daughter having to live her whole life knowing that every few years she’s going to have to live through not being able to feel anything.”

“But it’s ok for that to happen to me?”

Audrey broke away from Nathan’s grasp and stepped back hugging herself. She had to look at the ground, because in that moment she couldn’t look him in the eye. Looking him in the eye would have meant breaking down, and this was not the moment for tears. This was the moment for strength and resolve. “That’s not what I meant, and you know it.”

Nathan turned away from her and ran his fingers through his hair, allowing a huge, frustrated sigh to escape. “You’re not going to Portland.”

 “Excuse me? Why the hell not?” Audrey’s eyes flew up to Nathan, and she was pretty sure she was seeing red. He could be so exasperating at times, and this was one of them.

Nathan turned back to look at her. “Audrey, come on. Think about this. What exactly are you going to do? Show up at some poor guy’s door and tell him you’re his mother? He’s going to think you’re crazy, because you’re both about the same age. And then what? Tell him he just brought back supernatural afflictions in a town hours away, and he should come with you so you can shove him in a barn? Somehow I don’t think that’ll go over all that well. He’ll call the cops on you, and I’ll be getting a call to come bail you out of an insane asylum.”

Audrey hadn’t fully thought through what she was going to do. In all honesty, she had kind of assumed that James would instantly recognize her, she could explain what was going on, and then they would work together to solve the Troubles. But, Nathan was pointing out the obvious flaws in her plan, and that only incensed her. “Well, what exactly would your bright idea be then? I don’t hear you giving anything better.”

“Would you let me think for a god damn minute? I haven’t exactly had the same amount of time as you have to process this.” Nathan turned away from her, and leaned his hands on his desk, trying to breathe to calm himself down. Only Audrey could drop a bomb on him that would leave him reeling like this. To him, her theory was solid. Normally, the Barn had only taken her, save for the cycle before this one where James had also been in the Barn, and had dropped her off exactly 27 years later. James had seemingly stayed even longer with the Barn, only exiting when the Barn returned to pick Audrey up. But then everything had gone to hell, and both Audrey and James were in the Barn once again, but for some reason, Audrey stayed behind. They had been told that the Barn only came when Audrey called for it – when she was ready to leave. And at the moment she had called the Barn this time, she _was_ ready to leave, because she wanted to save the town from destruction. But then nothing had happened. Maybe when she had been in the Barn, her desire to leave had left, causing the Barn to stay? Lucy hadn’t known that James was in the Barn with her, so she wanted to leave no matter what. But Audrey knew James was in there, and her desire to leave was only to save the town. And maybe that desire wasn’t strong enough for the Barn to take her away. Maybe her desire to leave was overshadowed by James’ desire to leave – how could anyone want to stay someplace where his wife had become a murderer, and his whole life was thrown upside down as he met his father for the first time, and his mother was not a person who hated him as he was led to believe, but rather someone who wanted to help him? Yes, his desire to leave surely had to have eclipsed Audrey’s, and that was why she was able to exit the Barn. And, since he was only half of Audrey, the Barn surely wouldn’t have been able to keep him as long as it could keep Audrey. No, it would have to let him go in half the time.

Holy hell, Audrey was right. The only way to put the Barn back on its proper cycle was for her to go back into it. Or, if it continued to take James, they would have to deal with the Troubles much more often. This was a no-win situation, but at least it was something he could wrap his mind around. But first, he needed to calm down, and with the tension that was radiating from Audrey, his blood was still boiling.

Audrey’s eyes flicked to the window of the office, and she could see that a few of the officers were hovering more than they should. She and Nathan’s voices must be carrying again, so she took a deep breath to try to calm herself down. For a brief moment, she was tempted to close the blinds of the window, but deep down, she knew if she did that, she’d be subjected to halted conversations each time she entered a room for the next few weeks. Small towns sure loved their gossip, and no one was the better subject of gossip than the Police chief and his wife. Audrey took another deep breath, and looked at Nathan. They weren’t going to get anywhere yelling at each other, and when she spoke this time, her voice was slightly calmer. “Nathan.”

Nathan held his hand up, but remained leaning against his desk. After what seemed like an eternity to Audrey, he finally turned back to face her. “Ok, here’s the plan. There is no deviating from this plan.”

“But…” Audrey stopped short when Nathan held up a single finger.

“There is no deviating from this plan. Got it?”

Audrey could only nod. Nathan had taken control, completely. And in this exact moment, she was eternally grateful for once to not have to make a decision.

“Good. Now, the plan is, we’re going to sit here and wait.” Nathan quickly held up his hand again as Audrey made to protest, and only continued when her mouth closed again. “James is going to make his way to Haven, because you always did, which means he will as well. In the meantime, so you don’t drive us all insane, we’re going to start tracking him as Cole Hather. We know what city he’s in now, so let’s watch what he’s doing. We’ll let everyone here know that they need to be on the lookout for him, so that the second he arrives in Haven, we’ll know it. We’ll talk to Vince and Dave and see if they can come up with any reason as to what is going on – maybe with this new information, and with your theory they can figure something out. And then you and I are going to start helping the Troubled. Because that’s what we do.”

Audrey wasn’t exactly thrilled by the plan, but the simple fact that her husband had strung together that many words in one breath shocked her into nodding in agreement. Overall, he was on the right track. There wasn’t a whole lot they could do in Portland – it would be better to talk to James while on their home turf of Haven. Because really, what would they have done if they scared the hell out of him in Portland and he didn’t come to Haven? That would have been disastrous. Then she would for sure have to go into the Barn, because at the moment, that would be the only way to stop the Troubles. But since they knew who James was, they could start tracking him, which would give them a timeline as to when he would show up, and would give them time to formulate a plan for when he actually made it to town. And who knows, maybe Vince and Dave _could_ figure out what was going on. She had serious doubts since they hadn’t helped her when she needed them, but she had to keep hope. Audrey looked at Nathan and could see that a bit of his tension had eased with her nod of agreement, but still, she blew out a breath. She felt like she had run a marathon, and was exhausted. And it was only early morning. She already needed a vacation, but knew that relief was a distant speck on the horizon.

Nathan took the few short strides towards Audrey and held her arms with his hands. “We’re going to fix this Audrey. Together.” And with that, he pulled her into an embrace, stroking her hair to calm not only her, but himself as well. They would have to fix this.

Audrey could feel the tension slowly starting to drain out of her body. Nathan sure knew how to rile her up, but definitely knew how to calm her down as well. If they had been this close to each other 10 years ago, would things have worked out differently? Would they have been able to stop the cycle back then? She closed her eyes and just allowed herself a few moments to breath in the smell that was distinctly Nathan.

“I do not drive people insane.”

Nathan’s chuckle rumbled against Audrey’s ear that was still pressed firmly to his chest, and made her smile.

“Oh, Parker. Trust me, you definitely drive people insane. Especially me.”

“Troubled or not, you can still feel me slap you Wuornos, so just remember that.” Audrey smiled again as another chuckle rumbled through Nathan’s chest.

“Your touch is something I’ll never forget. It’s one of the many things about you that drives me insane. In a good way.”

Audrey pulled back to look at her husband in the eye, and that’s who he was at the moment, her husband. The whole conversation had quickly gone from professional to completely personal, and as she looked into those eyes she loved so much, she could see them darkening, and she shivered as he tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. Suddenly there was a whole different kind of tension in their small office, but it was one that would have to wait until later that night after Juliet had been tucked in, and she and Nathan were able to shut the world out for a few precious hours. But for now, they had to focus. “Oh, Nathan.” Audrey wrapped her arms around him one more time to take a few more much needed moments with him.

And while Audrey was calming down, Nathan was getting more tense as the minutes ticked by. The whole situation was eating at him. The actual return of Troubles would have been nothing more than a minor inconvenience to him – he’d gone through this a few times now. But then Juliet became afflicted, and that added a layer to the chaos. Even that however, could have been overcome – it’s not like kids in Haven had never been Troubled before. He had, and survived, and she would too. No, it wasn’t that – it came down to that feeling of dread that Audrey would try to sacrifice herself for the town if they couldn’t come up with a solution, because as much as she wouldn’t want to leave, she would always protect the people she loved. And he had a feeling she would want to protect the son that neither of them had ever known. Nathan however, as much as he didn’t want to admit it, would be willing to shove James into the Barn himself to keep Audrey out. He had gone through this much of his life without James, and as selfish as it was, he needed Audrey more than he needed James. The next few months of his life were going to get very difficult, both physically and emotionally. But, as he held Audrey in his arms, he knew he would fight tooth and nail to keep her until the end of time, even if that meant betraying her by pushing their son away.

\------------------------


	16. A Normal Couple

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Totally don’t own these characters, or this world. I just like to be a part of it.
> 
> Author’s Notes: Heads up – time shift again. 
> 
> Here’s the promised Tuesday update!

**A Normal Couple**  


Their first official date came exactly six months after Audrey walked out of the Barn. There had been so many missed first dates in their relationship, that as much as Audrey didn’t want to be sentimental, deep down she was thrilled that Nathan was willing to be. Even though it seemed like such a girly thing to want, she wanted that story to tell friends, family, and their children about the first date she had with the man that would end up being her soulmate. Their life story would always be different than stories of normal couples, but it was their story, and it deserved a first, true date.

It had started off as a typical day. Nathan was in meetings all day, so Audrey took the opportunity to dive into the mound of paperwork that had seemingly grown each time she looked at it, even though no one had added anything to it all day. She got up from her chair twice – both times for a bathroom break and more coffee so she could at least pretend she was able to focus completely on the forms in front of her. She let out a sigh as she signed her name to yet another case report and glanced at the pile still overflowing in her inbox. Sometimes, being a cop really sucked.

When a knock sounded at her door, she silently thanked god, and looked up with a smile on her face. Whoever it was would blissfully distract her for at least a few moments, and she would take any moment she was given because she was pretty sure her eyes were starting to cross. And maybe someone needed her to go out with them on a case. That would mean she would be able to leave the office and the paperwork behind, which would be amazing. Going out would only mean more paperwork later, but that didn’t matter right now. The only thing that mattered was that she might actually get away from the current paperwork.

But when her eyes landed on her lover, her smile turned into a full on grin. She eagerly drank in the sight of him. No matter how many times she looked at him – which was very often now that she was allowed to – he still took her breath away. And, if she was honest with herself, now that he was hers, he seemed even more devastatingly handsome than he had before. She knew how the other females in town looked at him, and she knew without a doubt that she had caught the most eligible bachelor in Haven.

And with the way he was looking now, she almost felt bad for every other female in Haven who didn’t get to experience the wonder that is Nathan Wuornos. Almost.

He was casually leaning against her door frame with his arms crossed, and his forearms bare as he had rolled up his sleeves at some point during the day. His sidearm was visible on his hip, which made him look dangerous, but the slight smile that tugged on his lips, and the way his eyes softened as he looked her over, gave him away. He might be the definition of stoicism, but deep down, he was a softie. “Do you have plans tonight, Parker?”

Audrey leaned back in her chair and put her boots up on the desk, lacing her fingers together over her stomach. God, she loved their banter. With just one question she could already feel the banality of the day drip away, and her adrenaline humming. Audrey raised an eyebrow as she regarded his question. “Nothing concrete. I was hoping to spend it with a friend of mine, but I haven’t been able to talk to him all day today, so I guess I could blow him off. He’ll never know.”

Nathan’s lips tugged up a little further. “Well, your friend is obviously an idiot for not talking to you today. He must have been frustratingly busy, but, it’s his loss that I got to you first.”

“Yeah well, people come and go, I guess.”

Nathan licked his lips, and gave Audrey a shy look. “I’d really like to take you to dinner tonight if you’d let me.”

Audrey tilted her head at the strange request. He had taken her to dinner pretty much every night for the past six months. The only times they had been apart was when either one of them were stuck on a case, or when Nathan was pulled away to Portland for a conference. Once in a while she would tell Nathan to go do his Nathan things while she spent time with Duke, and there were a few nights that Nathan met up with a couple of his buddies from high school for drinks. But other than those, they had spent their dinners together in blissful companionship. “Um, sure.”

Nathan uncrossed his arms, shoved his hands in his front pockets, and suddenly became really interested in his shoelaces. If Audrey could have guessed, she would have said he looked nervous. “Well, I mean, if you don’t want to, we don’t have to…”

“No! I mean, yes! I mean, I would love to go to dinner with you.” Audrey’s words tumbled out of her mouth, and if she had been talking to anyone other than Nathan, she would have felt like an idiot.  Without him even saying it, she knew it in her bones that he was asking her out on a first date. They had been “dating” for months now, but it was more of an implication than anything official. Now it seemed as though Nathan wanted to make it official, and was asking her out. He never ceased to surprise her. Butterflies started dancing in her stomach all of a sudden, and dammit, if she didn’t feel a little nervous too.

_What’s wrong with me?_

Nathan looked up at her words and his smile could have lit up a room. “Great! I mean, um, good. I’ll uh, come get you at 6?”

“Yeah, sure, that’d be great.” Audrey grinned as he turned and walked away – presumably back to his own office. Suddenly her day had gotten a whole lot better. Was she dressed ok though? Jeez, he didn’t care what she wore. But she did. Maybe she could sneak out for an hour and at least change her pants.

Audrey wearily eyed her pile of paperwork that inexplicably had grown since she last looked at it. There was no way she would be able to sneak out to change. As ridiculous as it was, she glanced around her office to make sure no one else was in there, secretly adding files to the pile when she wasn’t paying attention, but of course, no one was there. She half wanted to grab something from the vending machine, but assumed if she left, more files would be added to her pile, and that was the last thing she wanted to see. So, instead, she pulled the file off of the top of the pile, and began filling it out, losing herself once more in the drudgery of police work.

\------------------

At 6pm sharp, she heard another light rap on her door, and saw the most beautiful man alive standing there waiting for her. “Ready?”

Audrey grinned and nodded her head. “Ready.” She quickly shoved the report she was working on back in its folder, and placed it back on her slightly smaller stack. She stood up and walked around to the coat rack to grab her jacket, and turned off the light as she moved passed Nathan through the doorway. She took a few steps away, but then quickly turned back.

“Wait, hold on.” Audrey reopened her door, and made sure it was locked before closing again.

Nathan smirked at her. “You’re locking your door? Why?”

“I’m pretty sure that someone is sneaking in there when I’m gone, and adding files to my pile, so I want to make sure I can block them.”

“You know that everyone has a key to your door, right?”

Audrey stopped and knitted her eyebrows together. “Then why do we have locks if anyone can get in?”

“Well, the public can’t.”

Audrey rolled her eyes, and started towards the exit. She felt Nathan close behind her, and smiled in contentment as she felt his hand land lightly on the small of her back, guiding her out the door as the two of them waved to the few officers still in the building. They were still trying to keep it professional at the office, but everyone knew they were officially together, so sometimes the forced separation seemed a little unnecessary.

As they neared the Bronco, Nathan opened her door for her, and held her hand for support as she climbed into the truck. This was a new routine the two had begun in recent months. Whenever he drove, he made sure to open her door for her, and would always help her into the truck. When they were on duty however, she was left to fend for herself, just as any good cop should do.

But tonight, right now, they were off duty, so he made sure to help her climb up into the truck. And once he saw she was settled, he closed the door and smiled at her through the window. As he rounded the truck to the driver’s side, Audrey could feel butterflies dancing in her stomach, and the thrill of anticipation was palpable. This evening was going to create a memory she would never forget, and she couldn’t wait for it to start.

\------------------------

As she curled herself into Nathan’s warm body, Audrey looked out to the murky sea before her. Her and Nathan’s “first date” had been amazing. He had driven her to a small town outside of Haven to a quaint little Italian restaurant. They had had a little too much wine, but had walked it off as they wandered through the quiet streets. After stopping at a coffee shop, Nathan had driven them to the very spot they met. The spot had meant so much to both of them, so Audrey hadn’t even questioned the seemingly random locale. Instead, they climbed out of the truck, and sat on the guardrail together, a blanket wrapping them together and protecting them from the chill in the air as they looked out over the water. She couldn’t have asked for any more for a first date, and even if she hadn’t already been sleeping with the man sitting next to her, he definitely had made a pretty compelling case for her to start now.

She could feel some of the wine still coursing through her body, and she turned her lips into the crook of Nathan’s neck. “Let’s go home.” Audrey slid a hand down Nathan’s thigh and knew she had stirred some butterflies in his stomach too.

With his arm already wrapped around Audrey’s shoulders, Nathan pulled her closer and kissed the top of her head. He would have been content to sit with her here all night, but as her fingers scraped along his leg, he knew that home was definitely better.

They unfolded their limbs from each other, and Audrey shivered in the cool air. Nathan bundled the blanket up, and put his hand on the small of her back, guiding her to the truck.

\----------------

He jumped at the feel of her fingers trailing down his skin, and chuckled as her foot inched its way up his leg.

“What?” Audrey wondered if she was tickling him. The further they got away from the end of the Troubles, the more of his nerve endings were waking up to their full potential. It seemed like every day she was able to evoke a new reaction from him.

After their date, Nathan had driven them back to his house, where they had curled up together on the sofa with a glass of wine. As the wine began to wind its way deliciously through their veins, the two had moved to the bedroom, ready to fall asleep together in a tangle of limbs. As Nathan was finishing in the bathroom, Audrey remembered she had left her phone in the car, so she had run out into the cold in her light pjs to grab it, and promptly dove back into the bed where Nathan now was, to ward off the cold.

Continuing his chuckle, Nathan grabbed the offending fingers in his hands and shifted Audrey below him, pushing her into the mattress. “Your fingers and feet are freezing, Parker.”

Audrey grinned at the situation and felt her stomach curl in anticipation. “Well, I know one way you can warm me up.” She pushed her lips up onto Nathan’s, and he proceeded to do just that.

\------------------

Audrey felt so warm and safe in the moment that for once, the thoughts in her head were still. She played idly with the hairs on Nathan’s chest as he played with the curls of her hair.

“Move in with me.”

The words were practically whispered from Nathan’s lips in the quiet still of the night, and Audrey’s hand faltered slightly in the random patterns it was drawing. Normally, this would be that moment where she would be afraid of what was to come - that moment where she would start to pull away, because being alone meant that people around her would be safe. And being alone was what she was used to. But that moment didn’t need to happen anymore. She had already survived the Barn. The Troubles were gone. People were safe. She was safe. She was happy.

“Ok. I’d like that.”

There was no crushing of body to body, that euphoric moment that is always seen on TV, or written about in romance novels. Instead, there was simply another kiss placed on her head, and the two of them slipped quickly into a peaceful sleep during the first night of officially living together.

____________________


	17. Conversations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Totally don’t own these characters, or this world. I just like to be a part of it.
> 
> Author’s Notes: Heads up – time shift again. 
> 
> Thanks as always to my beta, who forced me to stay in character here. 
> 
> Here’s the promised Tuesday update!

** Conversations **

Even though he couldn’t feel anything physically, Nathan knew without a doubt that he was bone tired. For the past week, he and Audrey had been working non-stop in tracking James. After his arrest, he seemed to have taken some time off, but then his credit card activity flared up, and it looked like he was on the move. Haven was calling him.

So of course, Audrey insisted on working even more. They had been at the station when he found her passed out on the sofa in their office. And when she was barely able to form a sentence when she startled awake, Nathan finally convinced her that she needed to go home and rest. Stan drove her home and promised Nathan he would stay at the house until Audrey fell asleep, so Nathan was able to stay and work. The Troubles were flaring up, and he had been running all over town trying to calm people down. One Trouble involved fire, and his inability to feel had definitely been an asset.

But now that he was home, he was exhausted. Nathan looked in on Juliet, who had kicked off all her blankets. He pulled them back over her small body, because even if she couldn’t feel the cool air, he didn’t want her catching a cold. He bent down to place a soft kiss on her forehead, and pushed her hair out of her eyes. He brushed his fingers over her cheek a few times, trying to process what he was feeling. It was like he could feel her, but couldn’t, and he could only compare the feeling to being numbed at the dentist – you can feel the sensation, but it’s definitely not all there. It was less of a feeling than when he touched Audrey, but much more feeling than when he touched anything else. The only plausible explanation was that since Juliet had half of his DNA, and half of Audrey’s, she had enough of Audrey to create a sense of feeling for him, but not enough to make it whole.

Juliet however didn’t even move under his touch. Always did sleep like a rock – and probably would even more so now that she couldn’t feel anything. Nathan frowned at that thought, and stared at her for a few moments before turning to leave the room.

Nathan pulled the door closed behind him, but left it open a crack so that the light from the hall nightlight reached inside her room. He moved through the house to his bedroom, and couldn’t help but chuckle when he walked in. Peanut was definitely Audrey’s dog. Audrey was lying on her side, and Peanut was lying next to her under the covers, his head on her pillow, nose touching her nose. Her arm was flung over his small body, and the two seemed to be breathing in sync. Peanut didn’t even move when Nathan walked through the room to the bathroom.

After stripping out of his rumpled clothes, and showering, Nathan quietly padded up to the bed, pulled the covers back, and climbed in next to Audrey so that he was spooning her. He rubbed a hand down Peanut, who finally looked up to acknowledge Nathan’s presence, and then tucked that arm around Audrey’s stomach. He leaned his head against hers, and smiled at the thought that three out of four of their family members were currently sharing one small pillow.

Audrey shifted in Nathan’s arms, and rolled over so that she was nose to nose with him. She moved her head a bit so that she could kiss him. “Sorry I fell asleep today. Very unprofessional of me.” Audrey’s voice was thick with sleep, and she raised it barely above a whisper.

Nathan snorted. “Remind me to reprimand you later for falling asleep on the job.” He pulled her closer to his chest, and snuck his hand underneath her shirt. The heat rolling off her back made his sense of touch flare to life, and his breath caught. “God, you feel so good.”

Audrey rubbed her hands up and down Nathan’s chest, her brain starting to wake up as her sense of smell was assaulted by that smell that was distinctly Nathan, coupled with body wash from the shower he must have taken. “You don’t feel so bad yourself.”

Forgetting for the moment how tired he was, Nathan grabbed the back of Audrey’s head so that he could crush his lips to hers. Being able to feel her after going all day feeling nothing was the ultimate aphrodisiac.  It was like it was ten years ago again when Audrey had kissed him after he gave her the information about Lucy Ripley. He had felt nothing for so long, and then she had poured all the emotion she had into one kiss, bringing him back to life. He knew in that moment that he absolutely loved her. And now, as she was pulling off his shirt, and he was running his hands up her bare thigh, Nathan could feel life coursing through his body. He rolled on top of her, and heard Peanut drop to the floor, likely on his way to Juliet’s room where he could sleep in peace. Nathan looked down into Audrey’s eyes, which were still hooded with exhaustion, and thought for a brief moment that he should stop, and let her just sleep. But then her hands were framing his face, bringing his lips down to join hers, her tongue slipping past his lips to dance with his. There was only skin on skin, and for as tired as they both were, they took this moment to enjoy each other.

\----------------

Audrey laid on her back, her right arm above her head and her fingers tangled with Nathan’s. Her left hand was splayed across her stomach as Nathan traced lazy circles on her naked body. She didn’t want to break the peacefulness of the moment, but she wouldn’t be able to sleep if she didn’t ask. “Did you find anything more on James after I left?”

Nathan’s fingers stilled for a minute before he continued the patterns he was drawing on Audrey’s skin. He knew she would want to know, but he had been hoping that it could have waited until morning. “He’s on the move. Haven is calling him.”

“The Troubles are fully back, aren’t they.” It wasn’t even a question that Audrey asked. It was more of a statement.

“Yes.” Nathan said nothing more. There was no need to elaborate. She would hear about the cases he had worked on today sooner or later, so there was no point in bringing the anxiety into their bed.

“We’re going to have to figure what to do soon, Nathan. We need to be prepared for when James arrives.”

“I know.”

The two laid in silence for a while, both lost in impossibly deep thoughts.

“Nathan, he’s our son.”

Nathan sighed. “I know.”

“We need to protect him, just like we would Juliet.”

Nathan closed his eyes, and let go of Audrey’s hand so that he could pinch the bridge of his nose. They were going to have to have this conversation, but he never thought it would happen while they were lying in bed naked together. This was a conversation that needed to be had when they both had a solid night’s rest under their belts, and when they could pace around a room to ward off the inevitable frustrations that were going to bloom. He knew without a doubt she wasn’t going to like his train of thought, and he would rather deal with her anger in the light of day, than now, while they were still basking in the afterglow of their lovemaking.

“Audrey, about that…” He could feel her tense beside him, but he continued on. It had to be said, and it seemed like now was when it was going to be. “He’s an adult, and even though he’s our son, and of course I’m going to protect both of my children, I want to make sure Juliet gets to live the life she has ahead of her.”

Audrey pulled away a little from Nathan, and felt an instant chill dance across her skin. “What are you saying, Nathan?”

Nathan sighed and sat up so he could look at Audrey. “Audrey, look. There’s no point in arguing about what we don’t know. We need to just get some sleep tonight and we can deal with this in the morning.” Nathan reached to Audrey to frame her face with his hands. “But please know that I will do anything to protect you. I will die before I let anything happen to you.”

Audrey nodded and could feel tears welling up in her eyes. His words were so similar to what he said to her all those years ago before she went into the Barn. The past was starting to meld with the present, and it was scaring the hell out of her. And she was so tired, so her emotions were starting to get the better of her. “I know.”

Nathan gave her a little smile. “And Juliet is pretty much just a tiny version of you, so I’ll protect her too.”

Audrey couldn’t help the slight twitch of her lips. “I know.” She sighed, and slid back down into bed, pulling Nathan with her so that she could curl up against him. “I’ve been so happy these past few years, Nathan. I want to get back to that.”

Nathan kissed Audrey’s temple. “We’ll get there. Don’t worry.”

He once again wrapped his arm around her stomach and pulled her body to his, trying to breathe her in, in hopes of calming himself down. But, tonight, that worry would not leave him. Things were only going to get worse from here before getting better, and by the tension he could feel in Audrey’s body, she knew it as well. He let out a quiet sigh, pulled her just a little closer, and closed his eyes, soon drifting off into a worried state of sleep.

\--------------

“Do neither of you answer your phone anymore?”

“Mommy!”

Nathan and Audrey both looked up from their respective computers upon hearing the voices of Duke and Juliet. Audrey pushed back from her desk and swiveled in her chair so that she could catch her little girl as she launched into her arms. “Hey baby girl, what are you doing here?” Audrey stroked Juliet’s hair, and looked into her eyes as she waited for an answer. Duke had picked up Juliet from the house first thing in the morning, promising to look after the little girl during the day so that she and Nathan could concentrate on work for a few hours.

“Uh, guys? I really need to talk to you. Nathan?” Duke was gesturing out the door, but Nathan was watching his two girls interact and wasn’t getting up quick enough for Duke, who started clapping his hands to get Nathan’s attention. “Now!”

“Uncle Duke brought me here because he said that he really needed to talk to Daddy.”

Duke glanced over nervously to Juliet, and then back to Nathan.

“But guess what Mommy, I made a new friend today!”

Juliet was practically bouncing on Audrey’s lap, and Audrey raised her eyebrows and smiled to show her daughter she was excited for her as she questioned her. “Oh really, where?”

“In the park. Uncle Duke took me there and I met this really nice man who looked _just_ like Uncle Duke and he bought me an ice cream. He said that I seemed like a really nice little girl and I deserved an ice cream. And I know you and Daddy always say to never talk to strangers, but I think I know him. He seemed really familiar, so I figured it was ok. And Uncle Duke was really close, so it was ok.”

As Juliet tumbled through her words, both Nathan and Audrey could feel their respective hearts constricting in their chests. Nathan first grabbed onto the fact that Duke had allowed a stranger to not only talk to his daughter, but buy her ice cream. Anything could have happened to her, even if he had been right there. Nathan had been in law enforcement long enough to know that small children are abducted all the time, and very often, right in front of their families. Audrey however, immediately latched onto the fact that Juliet had talked to someone that looked just like Duke. Hadn’t Dwight mentioned that James looked a lot like Duke this time around? And she said he looked familiar. Was it his eyes? As Audrey thought about it, for the brief time she spent with James, she had always remembered the color of his eyes. And as she now looked into Juliet’s, she realized they were the exact same color. Of course they were. They both came from a combination of hers and Nathan’s. Audrey glanced over at Nathan who briefly made eye contact with her before he growled and stood up, heading quickly over to Duke, pulling him out the door, leaving Audrey alone with their daughter.

Juliet watched the two men go. “Where’s Daddy taking Uncle Duke? If they’re playing ‘lock Uncle Duke in the jail cell’ game again, I want to play too!”

Audrey grabbed onto Juliet to stop her from jumping off her lap and running out the door. “No, they’re not going to play that game today – at least, I don’t think so. They’re just going to go have a big person talk. They’ll be back soon.”

Juliet seemed unconvinced, but turned back to Audrey.

“How about you tell me more about your new friend?” Inwardly, Audrey was panicking. James was in town, and had slipped by every single officer of the Haven PD that was out on the streets with the direct order to call in as soon as they saw him. A sliver of anger ducked and weaved through her mind, and she was going to make sure Nathan chastised each and every officer that was on duty right now. Every single one of them had failed in their orders, and that didn’t sit well with her - especially when it was her family at stake, not to mention the safety of the town.

But now that he was here, Audrey wanted to get out there and find him, even if she still wasn’t sure what she was going to do when she saw him. But, since her daughter was sitting on her lap, and her husband was out probably screaming at Duke – possibly locking him in a jail cell - she would have to settle in and wait for a while, so the best option was to see if Juliet could give her any other clues about James. “What was his name?”

“Cole. I like that name. And he had blue eyes like me.”

“He did?”

“Uh huh. And, don’t tell Daddy, but he bought me a _double_ scoop!”

Audrey grinned. Sweets were always a secret between her and Juliet. “I won’t. So, did Cole tell you anything else?”

“Nope. Just that he was happy to meet me and hoped he would see me again. Can I see him again mommy? He was so nice.” All of a sudden, her face fell in that despair that is only seen on the faces of small children. “Aw, but I don’t know where he lives.”

Audrey tapped her finger on Juliet’s nose. “Tell you what. How about Daddy and I use our special police skills and try to find him.”

“Yeah!” Juliet threw her arms around her mother’s neck and pulled in for a hug. And in an instant, her mind switched gears, and she was on a new topic. “Uncle Duke said that you and Daddy would be working late tonight and that I could stay on the Rouge with him. Can I? Can I?”

Audrey had to give it to Duke, he sure did know her and Nathan well. With this news, the two of them would be working around the clock, and would need somewhere for Juliet to stay. This would be perfect, but of course, she couldn’t let her daughter off without a little teasing. “Hmmm, I don’t know, you’ve been spending a lot of time with Uncle Duke already today.”

“Pleeeeeeeease?” I’ll be good, Mommy, I promise!”

Audrey grinned as she watched Juliet put her hands together and practically started begging. She let out a small laugh. “Ok, just for tonight though. Tomorrow night you need to be in your own bed.”

Juliet threw her arms up in celebration before throwing them around Audrey’s neck. “Yay! Thank you, Mommy!”

Audrey hugged her daughter back and then leaned back. “How about you and I play some tic-tac-toe until Daddy and Uncle Duke get back?”

“Ok!”

\-----------------

“How could you be so irresponsible? I trust you with her Duke! You can’t just let her talk to a stranger!” Nathan shoved his hand through his hair in irritation.

“Seriously? _That’s_ what you’re concerned with in this situation? Did you hear me tell you that your _son_ is back and was talking to your daughter?”

Nathan glanced over his shoulder and noticed a couple of officers hanging around. This wasn’t a conversation he wanted them to be privy to, so he gestured with his head towards the door and headed towards an empty office with Duke in tow.

Duke closed the door behind him, and crossed his arms so that he wouldn’t wring his hands in his nervousness. Seeing James had thrown him. He had taken Juliet to the park and had looked away for only a second to deal with one of his contacts, and when he looked back, James was handing her an ice cream cone. As soon as the two men had made eye contact, James had whispered something to Juliet, shoved his hands in his pockets, and walked away. Duke would have chased after him, but he couldn’t leave Juliet. He had already allowed a practical stranger buy her ice cream.

“Tell me what happened.” Nathan’s voice was dangerously low. There was nothing good about this situation. James was definitely back in town. His officers had failed to alert him. His own daughter was the first to find him. The Troubles were in full force. And, the worst part, the Hunter was getting closer and closer, meaning someone would have to go back in the Barn to save Haven from destruction, and he would be damned if it was Audrey.

“I wish I knew Nathan. I brought her to the park, we were walking around, and I ran into one of my contacts.” Duke put up his hands to ward off Nathan. “Nathan, I didn’t do anything around her. You know I wouldn’t do that.”

Nathan stopped himself from advancing on Duke, and allowed him to continue.

“Next thing I knew, she was standing at the ice cream stand with some dude. I headed over right away. He made eye contact with me though, Nathan, and I swear to god, he recognized me. But then he took off, and I couldn’t go after him with Juliet there. Otherwise I would have, I swear.”

Nathan took in a breath. “He recognized you?”

“I can’t be sure, but I got that feeling, you know? He looked different, but it was like he knew exactly what was going on.”

Nathan started pacing the small room. “It would make sense if he did. When he came out of the Barn the last time, he remembered everything. He knew who he was. It could have happened the same way this time.”

“But why does he look different? When he was back before, he was exactly the same person.”

“I don’t know. It doesn’t make sense. I need to find him. Audrey is going to make sure that happens, and now that she knows he’s in town, she’s not going to stop.” Nathan stopped pacing and looked at Duke. He opened his mouth to speak, but Duke waved him off.

“Don’t worry, I already told Juliet you and Audrey were going to be working late tonight, so she’s going to stay with me.”

“Thank you.”

Duke nodded. “Don’t worry about it. Just promise me you’ll figure out what’s going on, and that you’ll do everything to make sure Audrey doesn’t do anything stupid.”

“I’m definitely going to do my best.”

\-----------

 


	18. Halloween

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Totally don’t own these characters, or this world. I just like to be a part of it.
> 
> Author’s Notes: Heads up – time shift again. 
> 
> I felt like Nathan and Audrey deserved some fluff…
> 
> Thanks as always to my beta.
> 
> Here’s the promised Tuesday update!

** Halloween **

Nathan felt as though he was going to explode from desire, and he both hated and loved Duke for creating this situation.

It was Halloween day, and Audrey had convinced him to play hooky with her to go into town to find a costume for Duke’s Halloween party later that night. Actually, it was more like she had blackmailed him into playing hooky. She had been talking about the party all week – in a not so subtle hint that she wanted to go – and he of course was acting nonchalant about it, because quite frankly, he’d rather be at home on Halloween night so that he could avoid all the crazy people. He saw enough crazy people as it was on a regular day. There was no need to add costumes and alcohol on top of that. But, as soon as his phone lit up with a picture text from Audrey of a potential costume, he knew he wouldn’t have been able to concentrate the rest of the day anyways, so playing hooky was really his only option. He just wished that she wasn’t this excited for something Duke was putting together. Especially when that something was a costume party. He hated costume parties.

But, there he was, in a Halloween store, sitting in a chair, licking his lips in anticipation for Audrey to come out of the dressing room in yet another option. On the way into town, she forced him to buy her lunch, which she somehow managed to do almost every day, and then had proceeded to run numerous errands before finally taking him to the costume store. Frankly, all he wanted to do was see her try on costume after costume that resembled the one she had texted him earlier in the day, but so far, all she had tried on were various outfits that held absolutely no interest to Nathan. She kept promising a better one the next time, but it seemed to be more of the same. This last costume however, she had winked at him before entering the dressing room, telling him this would be the final option, so he was fully anticipating her in something fantastic when she came out of the dressing room. But when she finally emerged, his face must have been the picture of disappointment, because Audrey took one look at him and chuckled.

“Really? You’re going with that one? Because the picture you sent me this morning had me envisioning another choice for you entirely.”

Audrey ignored Nathan as she walked over to the mirror to check herself out. She studied her front, and then turned to try to see her back in the small wall mirror. Really, in a costume store, you’d think they would have larger mirrors hung around. But, this worked. After nodding her approval at her choice in costumes, she finally looked over at Nathan and grinned. “What. You don’t like it?”

Nathan shook his head and scrubbed his hand over his face. “No, I like it. I was just…never mind. If you like it, let’s get it.”

Audrey looked at herself in the mirror again, and then walked towards where Nathan was sitting. “Nathan, come on. We’re going to a party at the Gull. This is the perfect costume!” As she neared him, she leaned down to whisper in his ear so that no one else in the store would hear. “And what’s underneath is just for you.” She stood up quickly and went back into the dressing room to change, leaving Nathan squirming in the chair.

By the time she had changed back into her street clothes, Nathan had managed to get his thoughts almost completely back to the task of driving back into Haven, but almost lost his resolve as he caught her winking at him as she breezed by him on her way to the cashier. She handed her card over to the young girl, and turned to look at Nathan. “What are we going to get you?”

Nathan shoved his hands in his front pockets and narrowed his eyes at her. “Parker. I don’t do costumes.”

Audrey matched his narrowed eyes and sighed. “Party pooper.”

__________________

“Ahoy my fellow pirate!”

Nathan’s eyes narrowed in annoyance to Duke’s friendly greeting that was clearly not directed at him, and as he got a good look at Duke’s costume, he felt a pang of jealousy and a twinge of regret that he didn’t buy a costume to match Audrey’s. He watched as she moved past him to hug Duke, her long pirate coat brushing against him, and he could hear the buckles on her boots jingling. He had to admit, she looked amazing in the costume. It was a fully decked out pirate’s costume, which included the boots, tights, some skirt thing, a puffy shirt, and a corset that he still wasn’t sure how she managed to get on. And to top it all off, her impossibly blonde hair tumbled in curls from a large hat, and bounced around with every movement she made. She moved fluidly through the crowd, hugging people she knew, giving a friendly wave to others. As she stopped to talk to one of the junior officers that was at the party with his girlfriend, Audrey looked over his shoulder and caught Nathan’s eye and smirked.

Nathan shook his head to clear out thoughts of her hovering above him in only her large silver hoop earrings and whatever she was wearing under that coat – she still hadn’t allowed him to see what it was – with those blonde curls tickling his face. Alcohol was definitely needed at this point, so after taking a deep breath, he moved towards the bar, and put up his finger for a beer. He surveyed the room as he waited for his drink to arrive, and could see a hearty mix of Haven’s population crammed into the bar. There were costumes from the mundane – a guy with a t-shirt on that read, “this is my costume” – to the wild. He nodded at Gord when his beer was placed in front of him, took a long swallow, and had to admit that Duke always did seem to have the best beer on tap. As he set the glass back on the bar top, he heard a familiar jingling, and looked over to see Audrey plop down on the barstool next to him. “Having fun?”

Audrey smiled over the rim of the glass she was holding that contained a mysterious orange liquid. “Mmm hmm. And this Halloween punch that Duke made is fantastic.”

Nathan could hear the slight slur in her words already, and wondered if she was already on her second glass, or if the punch was really that strong. “I bet it is.”

“Well, if it isn’t my favorite lady - and Chief Party Pooper.”

Nathan looked up to see Duke in full pirate regalia grinning like a man who had had way too much of his own punch already.

Audrey smirked at Nathan. “Told ya.”

Nathan regarded Audrey out of the side of his eye, and glared at Duke. “Can it, Duke.”

Duke put up his hands in mock surrender. “Hey, I’m just saying. If you’re going to come to a costume party with a lovely lady on your arm, you should at least participate in said party.”

Audrey beamed at Duke, and then swiveled off of her barstool. “I’m going to let you two boys sort this out yourselves. I just don’t have the drive to solve your childhood issues right now, so I’m going to go get a refill on my punch.”

Nathan watched Audrey walk over to the food and drinks table and strike up a conversation with Vince and Dave. He could see them each look her up and down when she was looking at the other, and he could only shake his head. Would he ever get used to the attention she received from the other men in town? He knew how they all looked at her – he looked at her like that too – but it was still bothersome. Every once in a while he would tease her about it, and she always laughed it off – and would usually say that the females in town did the same to him, so it was only fair. Nathan never believed her. He knew for a fact that females in town didn’t look at him like that. Did they? No, they couldn’t have. Not that he would care. He only wanted one female to look at him, and thankfully, she did.

“How in the hell did you of all people, manage to lock her down Nathan?”

Nathan took one last look at Audrey before turning back to Duke. “I honestly have no idea.”

Duke held up his glass for a toast. “Well my friend, I salute you. But alas, I must attend to my guests. Particularly that brunette sitting over there.”

Nathan rolled his eyes, and watched as Duke sauntered towards a brunette wearing a ladybug costume. When he opened up his arms, the table erupted in cheers, and Nathan knew that their next round was on the Gull, and the ladybug didn’t have a chance. After making a mental note to make sure there were designated drivers set up for everyone, Nathan turned his attention back to his beer. He drained the glass, and put his finger up for another.

Once his third beer arrived, Nathan decided that the room was getting too loud and stuffy for his liking, so he got up to head outside. He spotted Audrey at a corner table, laughing with some of their coworkers who had joined the party. Her hat was now sitting on the table, surrounded by a number of empty glasses. Nathan could only hope that not all of those glasses were hers, but he was happy to see her finally letting loose. She always had to be so serious, but now that the Troubles were gone, she could really let her hair down, so to speak, and join in on festivities, instead of having to stand on the periphery, constantly looking out for trouble. Thankfully she was taking advantage of the reduction in stress, and was acting her age, and having fun with friends.

As he stepped out into the cool air, he could suddenly feel the beer running through his blood, and his brain instantly felt foggy. In that moment, he was happy that he and Audrey had decided to keep the apartment above the Gull. They had both decided that even if she was going to permanently be living with Nathan, there would be nights that it would easier to have another place to crash at. And during the past five months that she’d been living with him, they’d ended up crashing at the apartment at least a few times each of those months.

He wound his way through the people that had spilled out of the Gull to drink outside by the fire and on the deck, and made his way to the back railing so he could look out over the water. The moon was reflecting off that same water, which was almost still. There was just a slight chill in the air, and Nathan knew that winter would not be far behind. He glanced over at a couple making out in the far corner of the deck, and watched as the girl’s cat ears fell into the water below. The beer he was sipping was definitely making him run warm, which still to this day, just over a year since he’d gotten feeling back, surprised him. He was blissfully reveling in his warm buzz as a couple of arms snaked around his waist. Turning in those arms, his body grew even warmer as those pale blue eyes he loved so much looked up at him.

“There you are.” Audrey’s voice was heavy with alcohol, but the grin she gave him had him bursting with feeling.

Nathan grinned backed at her, and leaned back against the railing, pulling her hips to his own. “Hi.”

“I was sitting there watching the costume contest and realized that the costume I wanted to see the most wasn’t there.”

“Oh yeah? And what costume is that?”

Audrey stood on her tip toes so she could brush her lips against Nathan’s ear. “Chief Wuornos in his birthday suit.” And with that, she plopped back down on the flats of her feet and looked into Nathan’s eyes, seeing them go dark with desire. Sometimes, alcohol just made everything less awkward, no matter how comfortable you may be with someone.

Nathan didn’t waste any time and grabbed Audrey’s head with both his hands, fingers fisting in those blonde curls, and brought her lips crashing to his own. He could feel her fingers sneak under the hem of his shirt, and normally he would have jumped at the feel of those cold fingertips, but the alcohol was keeping him warm, and was dulling his senses. Dimly he was aware of knocking his glass over the edge, crashing into the water below.

“Nathan…”

He didn’t even let her finish her thought. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll buy him a new one.” His tongue danced with hers, and he was losing all sense of his surroundings. They had quickly become the couple making out on the deck. Nathan pulled away, holding Audrey’s face close to his own with his hands on her cheeks, and rested his forehead against hers. He watched her tongue dart out to moisten her lips, and he wanted nothing more than to moisten them himself. “Let’s go upstairs. I’ll show you my costume if you show me what’s under that coat.”

Audrey broke her gaze from his swollen lips and looked into his impossibly blue eyes. “I thought you’d never ask.”

\---------------------------


	19. One Step Back

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Totally don’t own these characters, or this world. I just like to be a part of it.
> 
> Author’s Notes: Heads up – time shift again. 
> 
> Thanks as always to my beta. This chapter was a beast, and we went back and forth a LOT on this one. She definitely made it better.
> 
> Here’s the promised Tuesday update!

** One Step Back **

“I thought you said you weren’t going to let her do anything stupid.”

“How was I supposed to know she’d do something like this?”

“She is your wife, Nathan. I’m assuming you’re well acquainted with her, so I feel like you should have been able to anticipate her doing this.”

Nathan turned to glare at Duke. “Regardless, I don’t think anyone would have expected her to do this. And I’m not continuing this conversation.”

Nathan turned back to the scene playing out in front of him, and he knew he should be helping his wife, so he grudgingly walked into the heat of battle, well aware of the smirk Duke was wearing as he looked on.

It had been three months since Juliet first saw James in the park, and since then, there hadn’t been a trace of James anywhere. No credit card purchases, no sightings, nothing. Needless to say, Audrey’s nerves were on edge, which created a less than ideal environment at home. To make things even more fun, Juliet had been picking up on Audrey’s anxiety. And on top of all of that, school was starting, so he had to deal with getting Juliet settled in her new class. And with the increase in Troubles activating, well, that was just the cherry on top. Oh, the joys of being a working parent.

But because of Audrey’s frustrations, the scene now playing out in front of them had been created. Nathan had been out for lunch when he ran into Duke, and they had decided to take a break and just sit and relax for a few moments. As they were driving back to the station, Nathan’s radio came to life. Laverne started giving them the play-by-play as she was hearing it from an officer calling in. Audrey had finally spotted James and had taken chase, and was hot on his tail, with one of their more junior officers struggling to keep up. That would be the last time he would ever allow a junior officer to team up with Audrey. At least while the Troubles were around, anyways.

Nathan and Duke glanced nervously at each other, and Nathan gunned the old Bronco in the direction of the chase. Audrey and James were on foot, so they would be able to get to them soon. But, as they were making their way there, they listened as Audrey caught up and tackled James to the ground. By the sounds of it, it was a thrilling chase, and Nathan pushed the pedal a little harder so they could get there.

As they were pulling up to the area, and could see more and more people moving towards the gazebo at the edge of the town, Nathan knew deep in his gut that his wife had made a spectacle. And as soon as Laverne relayed that it wasn’t in fact James that Audrey had found, Nathan cursed to himself and knew he had a situation on his hands.

He and Duke climbed out of the car, and stood watching for a few moments as Audrey frantically tried to justify to the young why she tackled him. The conversation wasn’t going well though, which was when Nathan decided he needed to jump in.

“What exactly is going on here?”

Nathan saw Audrey’s eyes flare slightly when she heard his voice and swung around to see him.

“This crazy lady just assaulted me. I want to press charges.”

Nathan ignored the man for a brief moment, instead wandering to Audrey and putting his hand on her arm as he leaned in close. “You ok?”

“Really? You’re going to ask your officer first if she’s ok? Don’t you care about the citizens of your own town?”

Nathan’s eyes briefly flicked to the man before settling back in on Audrey. At her quick nod, he once again focused his attention on the man, and turned away from Audrey. “Sir, I apologize for my officer’s actions, but I would like to talk to both of you about what happened. What is your name?”

“All I wanted to do was question him, and when I identified myself as Haven PD, he took off running. I had to give chase!”

Nathan stepped in between Audrey and the man as he saw the anger flare in the man. Audrey talking right now was not going to help this situation – whether she was right or not.

“That’s not true! I was minding my own business when this crazy lady just started chasing me! Of course I’m going to run…wait a minute, I know her! Wait, she’s your wife! Are you kidding me? You’re going to believe her! I want to talk to someone else!”

“Believe me sir, I’ll be talking to her later.” The irritation in Nathan’s voice was evident, and it got a rise out of Audrey.

“Hey!”

Nathan turned to Audrey, and narrowed his eyes. The last thing he needed right now was a citizen filing a police brutality report against his wife, when the citizen more than likely was in the wrong since he ran. “Parker, not now.”

There was something in Nathan’s eyes that had Audrey stepping back. Normally she would have fought him tooth and nail in this situation, but something told her to just let this battle go. Nathan turned back to the man standing in front of him. “Now sir, what is your name.”

The man shook his head. “Nuh uh. She’s your wife. I want to talk to someone else.”

“Trust me sir, I’m the one you’re going to want to talk to right now.”

The two men stared each other down for a few moments before the man finally cracked. “Jonny. Jonny Hill.”

“Ok Jonny, I’m Chief Wuornos. Can you please tell me what happened here today? And calmly.”

Jonny’s eyes flicked over to Audrey before settling back on Nathan. “I was just walking down the street minding my own business. Then I heard a lady across the street calling for someone. I don’t know why, but I looked in her direction. It was her.” Jonny pointed an accusatory finger at Audrey, who responded with a narrowing of her eyes. “Next thing I know, she was running towards me. I could see her gun, and I panicked. I didn’t want to get shot. Something’s not right with her. She’s crazy. I could see it in her eyes.”

Nathan sighed, and glanced over towards one of the patrol cars that had finally made it to the area. “Sir, it’s probably wise not to call one of my officers ‘crazy’.”

“You’re just saying that because she’s your wife.”

“In this situation she is most definitely one of my officers, not my wife.”

At Nathan’s words, Audrey felt an unwelcome pain of hurt in her heart. No matter what had been going on between her and Nathan, he had _always_ referred to her as his wife. Had she really stepped that far out of line that he was trying to distance himself from her? Admittedly, she shouldn’t have tackled Jonny, but he had run. People only run when they’re guilty of something. But he said she looked crazy. Did she? She knew she was holding in an unhealthy combination of caffeine and anxiety that had her wanting to claw her eyes out, but was it that noticeable? What was she doing? She was letting her anxiety take over her instincts. She felt like she was on a precipice, and was ready to fall off. Everything was coming to a head, and her emotions were getting the better of her.

Deep down she knew this guy wasn’t James, but he had looked so similar that she couldn’t stop herself. All she wanted was to find James and figure out what was going on. Each day she couldn’t find him, was one day closer to when she would have to go into the Barn herself so that she could protect her family. And she _really_ didn’t want to go into the Barn. Even the thought of having to do so, was eating at her so much that she could feel herself becoming punchy, and she was taking it out on her husband more than anyone. Of course he would want to distance himself from that. Who wouldn’t? But it still hurt. And the more she thought about it, the more it hurt, and the more she wanted to just turn and walk away right now, and leave Nathan to clean up the mess. But she didn’t. Instead, she stayed rooted to the ground, mortified as more and more people began to come and watch the spectacle, waiting for her chance to explain herself. Maybe Nathan would understand. Maybe they could forget everything that was going on and just take a night for themselves, as selfish as that may be. She was getting worried that she may not have many nights left, and was already planning to make them count.

The shouting caused Audrey to snap out of her thoughts, and she once again focused on Nathan and Jonny, who was now being walked to the patrol car by Nathan.

“You’re just as crazy as she is! I cannot believe you’re forcing me to go to the station over this! I didn’t do anything wrong!”

“Sir, the sooner we get you to the station, the sooner you can file your report and go home. Officer Patterson will take you there.”

As Nathan closed the rear door of the police cruiser, he felt slightly bad for Officer Patterson. Jonny Hill was more than likely going to be ranting the entire time he was in the car. He sighed. Now onto the next problem. He turned towards Audrey, and held up a hand when he saw her about to speak. “No, don’t say anything. Come with me.” Nathan turned around and started heading back towards the Bronco, confident that Audrey was following. As they neared Duke, he stopped. “Sorry Duke, you’re going to have to find your own way back to the Gull.”

Duke nodded. “No problem Nathan. Audrey.” He tipped his head in Audrey’s direction and then turned and hightailed it out of there. He knew when Nathan and Audrey were about to argue, and it was smart to be nowhere in the vicinity when that happened.

Nathan continued on his way towards the Bronco, and stepped in, slamming the door behind him. When Audrey finally caught up and jumped in, he turned the engine without even looking at her.

Audrey watched Nathan as he drove, and could see his jaw tightening. She could literally feel the tension in the car, so naturally, she had to break it. “Are you talking to me?”

At his silence, and the noticeable tightening of his fingers on the steering wheel, Audrey continued on. “Look, Nathan, I messed up. I get it. But the guy ran. You and I both know that people are guilty of something if they run.”

Nathan looked over and pinned Audrey with a steely gaze. His voice was deadly low, and Audrey could feel herself shrinking in her seat. “Please. Please tell me you identified yourself as a police officer.”

“Of course I did.” Audrey’s voice came out as a whisper, and without the authority she normally expected of herself in situations like this. It was one thing to hold your own against your partner, but it was quite another to hold your own against your partner/husband who was utterly irate about a situation that, if she was being honest with herself, probably shouldn’t have happened. “Where are we going?”

It was several moments before Nathan responded. “The station.”

“Are we going to talk there?” Audrey was met with only another tightening of Nathan’s fingers on the steering wheel, and she knew she needed to stay quiet for the rest of the ride.

\-------------------------

When her office door slammed, Audrey jumped about a foot in the air. The car ride back to the station had been excruciating, and when they mercifully made it to the station, she clambered out of the Bronco, and went right to her office. Nathan hadn’t followed, and for that, she was grateful. The more time he had to calm down, the better, because the more she reflected on the situation, she definitely messed up, and would more than likely have to deal with a police brutality report, which would mean a suspension, which would pull her away from critical sources right when she needed them the most.

And because she was mulling around that depressing thought, she didn’t see Nathan stride in until the door slammed.

“You are really, fucking lucky, Parker.”

Nathan would cuss, but really only if he was frustrated with something. And the fact that he threw this epitaph to her, meant he was really frustrated with her. Not good. And because she didn’t trust her words at the moment, she just gaped at him.

“The reason Mr. Jonny Hill ran from you, was because he had just walked out of his very expensive lunch bill. He thought you were from the restaurant. And because we happened to tie this case together so quickly, I was able to bribe him from filing a report against you by letting him off on the theft charge. I will now also be eating several of my future meals at the Salt Shaker.”

Audrey let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding as she watched Nathan sit down on the sofa and bury his head in his hands. She could see the tension radiating off of him and wanted nothing more than to walk over and rub his shoulders, but she knew that right now, they were not husband and wife. They were commanding officer and subordinate.

But then she heard him sigh, and she knew that he was sliding back into partner/husband mode. His voice came out quiet though, which always made Audrey nervous.  “What the fuck, Audrey?”

It was also really bad when he used her first name at the station, because that meant he was worried. “Nathan, I’m sorry. I realize now I shouldn’t have done that. I’m just getting really jumpy. We haven’t heard anything from James in months, and The Hunter is getting closer every day.”

Nathan looked up at Audrey. “You don’t think that isn’t in my every waking thought as well? That doesn’t give you the right to tackle people in the street, Audrey. Did you ever stop to think about what would have happened if that _was_ James? He wouldn’t know you, and you tackling him on the street will not help you convince him to help.”

Crap. Nathan was right. “I didn’t think about that.”

“That’s just it, Audrey. You’re not thinking right now. And I can’t have you on duty if you’re not thinking. It’s dangerous not only to yourself, but to other people.”

A shard of ice wound its way through Audrey’s heart. “Are you suspending me?” She couldn’t believe it. Would Nathan really do that? Now? Had she really gone that far? Sure, she made a mistake, but mistakes happen all the time. And no one had gotten hurt. In fact, she had inadvertently apprehended a criminal. She had actually done a great service to the town – even if that did mean she would have to eat at the Salt Shaker for who knows how long.

He had to look at the ceiling before talking. Never in a million years would he have thought that he would have to be having a conversation like this with Audrey, of all people. “If you were anyone else – anyone – yes. You would be suspended without pay. But, I’m not going to suspend you. I’m really, fucking angry at you though, but I’m not going to suspend you. There will however, I’m sure, be some talk about you not being suspended. Should that start rising, we may need to have this conversation again. We may be working on a small town police force, but rules are rules Audrey, and in all reality, you and I shouldn’t be working together anyways since we’re married. It’s a risk, and a hurdle that you know we’ve already come up against before.”

Audrey immediately thought back to that painful memory of Nathan taking a knife for her during one of their first cases together after his Trouble disappeared. They had fought vehemently about that, and came close to walking away from each other as partners, before deciding that they both worked better together. But that wouldn’t matter to anyone if either started getting sloppy, and she was starting to get sloppy. She took a deep breath. “So, where do we go from here?”

Nathan glanced up at the clock on the wall before looking back at her. “You are going to go pick up our daughter from school and I’m going to stay here and clear things up.” He stood up to leave, but paused with his hand over the door handle as he heard Audrey’s voice.

“Please don’t be mad at me, Nathan.” Audrey watched as Nathan’s hand hovered over the door handle, before finally clasping it, and pulling the door open. He was really mad at her, and she couldn’t blame him. She could only hope that he came home at a decent enough hour so they could talk.

\------------------------

As she kept a watchful eye on Juliet and Peanut running around their yard, burning off their dinner and energy before bed, Audrey flipped through traffic camera footage for various areas of town, hoping that she could see James walking around. He was definitely in Haven, because Juliet had seen him, but why had he gone underground? Whenever she came to Haven in her various personalities, she always seemed to become an integral part of the town people. So, if her theory was correct, and James had now pseudo taken her place, shouldn’t he be becoming a part of the town? Shouldn’t he be helping the Troubled? It felt like only she and Nathan were doing that again – just like old times – but the more she thought of it, the more it began to eat at her. That was the whole point of the person in the Barn, wasn’t it? To help the Troubled? Or was that only her requirement? Maybe James didn’t have the same requirements. Maybe she would always be expected to help the Troubled – which she would gladly do anyway. But the Troubled people had to be the key. Those were the people she was always drawn to, so maybe James would be as well.

She closed her laptop and watched her daughter laugh as she ran through the yard with Peanut chasing her. There was nothing more calming than watching the carefree nature of a child having fun. But as the sun began to set, Audrey packed up her things and put them in the house before calling Juliet in for a bath. She would need to be in bed soon, since it was a school night. “Come on Juliet! It’s bath time.”

Juliet momentarily looked upset she had to come in, but fatigue was getting the better of her, so she turned and ran towards the house. “Where’s Daddy?”

Audrey put her hand on Juliet’s head, subtly guiding her into the house, and making sure the door was locked behind them. “He’s still at work, baby girl. It might be a late one for him tonight.”

“Awww, I wanted him to kiss me goodnight.”

“Don’t worry, even if you’re asleep, I’ll make sure he does. Now go, gather your pajamas, and I’ll run your bath.”

\----------------------

Audrey sighed as she stared at her computer screen. The entire time she was bathing Juliet, she couldn’t shake the nagging feeling that there was a link she was missing between James and the Troubled people of Haven. So after Juliet was bathed and tucked in bed with a bedtime story, Audrey had gone to her office to start working. It was getting late, and Nathan still wasn’t home, and she wanted to distract herself by being useful. As such, she started listing out the names of all the Troubled people she could remember. Once her memory was tapped, she started going through every issue of the Haven Herald, digging through generations of stories to pull out names of people that were involved in a situation that could only have been caused by a Trouble. By midnight, she had hundreds of names, and knew that there were so many more. On a whim, she sent an email to one of her night officers to get them to continue the research while she caught a few hours of sleep. Since Nathan still wasn’t home, she knew she would have to be the one to get up early to get Juliet to school. She stood up to stretch, and slowly made her way through the house, turning off lights as she went, and making sure all the doors were locked. She found Peanut snuggled up to Juliet, and roused him from his sleep so he could go out one more time before bed.

As she climbed into bed, she noted that it was after 1am, and Nathan still wasn’t home. Her heart fell. He always came home. Was he really that angry with her? Was he ok? She glanced at her phone and saw no messages from him, so she sent a quick text.

ARE YOU OK?

She felt her anxiety level rise as moments passed without a response. She was about to call the station when she heard the familiar ping of her text alerts.

FINE. DON’T WAIT UP.

x

Audrey blew out a breath and wished she knew why Nathan was so angry. It was starting to make her angry. Couldn’t he see that she was once again doing everything she could think of to make sure she could stay?

As Audrey felt anger course through her body, she looked at Nathan’s text message again, and felt all the anger wash away. Was he going to come home at all? At least he signed off with a kiss though, so he wasn’t shutting her out completely. Still though, she could feel tears trail down her cheeks as she laid alone in their bed. They were tears of anger and frustration. If this was anything how he felt when she pushed him away all those years ago, she would have to spend the rest of her life trying to make it up to him – if he ever talked to her again.

\-----------------------

The next morning was chaos as Audrey tried to get herself and Juliet up and out the door in time to have Juliet at school on time. Somehow she managed to get it done, but mentally decided that tomorrow morning she would have to get up earlier so they weren’t as hurried. She sipped her coffee as she drove to the station, her heart aching for her husband. Nathan never did come home, and Audrey was feeling like hell because of it.

She walked into the station, nodding at the officers already in, and headed straight to Nathan’s office. He wasn’t in there, so she backtracked to her office, thinking maybe he had set himself up in there. When she didn’t find him there either, she stopped Stan as he walked by. “Stan, have you seen Nathan?”

“Oh yeah, Audrey. He just left to get some breakfast. I thought you were with him.”

“Um, no, I had to drop Juliet off at school.”

“Oh! How’s it going for her? Is she liking it already? I can’t believe she’s in school already!”

Audrey shifted uncomfortably. She did not want to be having this conversation right now. Stan was so personable, but right now, the only person she wanted to talk to was Nathan. But, since he obviously wasn’t around, she would have to switch into work mode.

“Yeah, um, she’s good. Hey, I need to check in with Doyle. Is he still here?”

“If you run, you should be able to catch him. Have a great day, Audrey!”

Audrey gave Stan a weak wave as he walked away from her, and she turned back towards Nathan’s office. She placed the spare set of his clothes she had brought him on his chair, and walked out to find Doyle to see how far he had gotten in his research last night.

\-----------------

Sitting back at her desk, she looked over what Doyle had put together. It was a sizeable list, and now came the task of seeing if any of these people had anything in common other than their genetic disposition. If she could find a connection, maybe that connection would lead to James. She glanced at her calendar and noted that The Hunter was closing in fast. Her anxiety levels were getting out of control, and on top of that, Nathan was not talking to her. She propped her elbows on her desk, and dropped her head into her hands. Tears burned her eyes, but she couldn’t let them fall. She knew that, just like last night, if she let them fall, she wouldn’t be able to stop them. She couldn’t quit, she had to keep fighting. There had to be a way to fix all of this.

“Hey.”

Nathan’s voice was quiet, but the unexpectedness of it had Audrey jumping. She looked up as he closed the door behind him. It was then she noticed that her blinds were already closed, and as she took closer stock of the couch, she saw a blanket was draped over the one arm. Nathan must have slept there last night, and had smartly covered himself in a blanket to ward off the cold, even if he couldn’t feel it. She licked her suddenly dry lips as he shoved his hands in his front pockets, and she noticed that he was wearing the clothes she had brought for him.

“Hey.”

“Did you get Juliet to school ok?”

Why was it so hard to breathe? “Yes.” Audrey paused, and waited for Nathan to say something else, but when he didn’t, she continued. “She was asking for you.” As she said the words, she knew they were mean, but she was feeling slightly betrayed by Nathan at the moment, and this was the easiest way to take a dig at him. And when she heard his sharp intake of breath, she knew her words hand landed a deep blow.

Nathan moved towards the couch to sit down, sighing as he did. He was so confused by the feelings that were swirling around in his body. The past few weeks had been increasingly difficult, and he felt like he was barely hanging on. He knew that once again, his officers were getting frustrated with his singular drive to save Audrey, and that they were only letting him be because of the trust he had gained from them over the past decade. However, that trust was starting to erode the more he was out of the office dealing with only one type of case, and the more personnel he was devoting to tracking one person, who, for all intents and purposes hadn’t committed a single crime, and therefore had no reason to be tracked. And then, his wife decided to take matters into her own hands and tackle an unarmed citizen in broad daylight. As soon as he made it to his office, he was already hearing some grumbling from some of the newer officers that if they had been the ones to tackle the guy, they would have been fired on the spot. The inevitable “sleeping with the boss” comments also started to flit through the station. It was embarrassing, and not something that either he or Audrey needed right now. He would have to deal with the dissent before it got out of hand, but yet again, he was so distracted with his drive to save Audrey, he didn’t want to waste any time on that now. But it was eating at him, and because of that, he couldn’t face her. As much as he wanted to run to her, and hold her in his arms where he knew she was safe, and it was just the two of them against the world, he couldn’t do it. His temper was a single string away from snapping entirely, and he did not want Audrey to be the one to receive his wrath. She didn’t deserve it, and so because of that, he stayed away. He stayed away to protect her, and the irony of it wasn’t lost on him. He knew that all those years ago she was staying away from him to protect him. At the time, he didn’t see it, and ran to the arms of another woman, and now, he wouldn’t be surprised if Audrey started to pull away from him. Which, was why he had gathered himself together, and had forced himself to come see her. Truth be told, he was going to wait until the end of the day when they could talk in private, but seeing a fresh set of clothes on his desk that she had obviously brought, had him walking straight towards her office.

He reached over to finger the blanket he had left on her couch. He couldn’t feel it, but it gave him something to ward off his anxiety. He had slept here last night because even though he didn’t trust himself with her, he still wanted to be surrounded by her, and her office was the best place. Her perfume always lingered in here, and it comforted him. He knew she was waiting for him to say something, but he couldn’t find the right words. “I’m really angry, Parker.”

Audrey forced a swallow in her suddenly very dry mouth. “With me?”

“Yes.”

“Why?” Audrey’s voice came out much too quiet for her liking, but she couldn’t muster anything more.

Nathan took a deep breath before speaking. God, how can she not see this? How is it that again, she was repeating what she did years ago and still not get it? They had even _talked_ about this, and she was _still_ doing it. It made his blood boil.

“Can’t you see what you’re doing Audrey? You’re shutting me out. Again. I feel like we’re back to exactly where we were 10 years ago when you were unilaterally making all of the decisions and making damn sure I didn’t know what was going on. And it hurts much more this time because I thought we had gotten past this already. Have you already forgotten our discussion?”

“No! I…”

“You what, Audrey? You agree to let me help when it’s convenient, but then as soon as the going gets tough again, you branch out on your own? We’re a team, Audrey. Both professionally and personally, and you’re shutting me out of both of those. You can’t do that. You can’t fight this on your own. There’s too much at stake this time.”

Audrey slumped in her chair and watched as Nathan shoved his hands through his hair. He was right. She was shutting him out again, and she didn’t even realize it. Had she been including him, she would have called in her sighting of James, and called for his backup. And frankly, that would have prevented the mess she created by taking things in her own hands. Guilt wound its way through her body, and she blew out a steadying breath. She couldn’t calm her racing heart, because again, it was being pointed out to her that she was making mistakes. And she didn’t like making mistakes - especially when it came to the wellbeing of her family. But she understood where Nathan was coming from. Had he done this to her, she would have been livid too. He had shut her out for only an evening, and it had made her angry, so she could only imagine how bad it would be if he shut her out completely, like she was doing to him. How could she fix this?

“Is that why didn’t you come home last night? You always come home, Nathan.” Audrey could feel her throat burning.

Her words had guilt stabbing uncomfortably through his heart, but the hitch in her voice is what had Nathan looking up. “Because, I don’t know what to do, Audrey.” Nathan scrubbed his face with his hands. A shower would be amazing right now, because he felt like he was going to collapse, and he needed something to wake him up. He stood up and started to pace the small room, conscious of Audrey watching him. “I haven’t felt this out of control for years, and nothing I seem to do makes anything better. I can’t find anything on James, no matter how hard I try, and no one else can seemingly do it either. I’m trying so hard to protect you, and then you go out and do something stupid like tackle a stranger on the street, and then I’m having to protect you in a whole new way.”

“Nathan, you do not need to protect me.”

Nathan stopped pacing and wheeled around to glare at Audrey. “Don’t you get it? Of course I have to protect you, Audrey. If I’m not protecting you, then what is my purpose?”

Audrey felt a shudder run through her. Deep down she always had an idea that at some point, Nathan had decided his whole reason for being was her – which was kind of hot when fate wasn’t wielding her sword – and that was why she had started to push him away all those years ago, so that he would have something else to live for. But when she didn’t go into the Barn, the two had become everything to each other, and now he couldn’t see anything beyond her, which scared the hell out of her, because she felt the same way. The only thing that was keeping her grounded, was a small child who was sitting in a classroom right now, completely obvious to the supernatural forces her parents were trying to save her from. “Nathan, you have a whole town to protect – you have a daughter to protect.”

“You think I don’t know that?”

Audrey stayed quiet as she watched Nathan start his pacing again. She was rooted to her chair, and was grateful that everyone seemed to be leaving them alone. Even her phone and email seemed to understand that this was a time to just be quiet.

“I need you, Audrey. Without you, I don’t know what I’ll do. Especially with Juliet.”

Audrey felt herself rising out of her chair and moving towards her husband. She walked up to him and placed her hands on his chest, breathing in his scent. “You’ll continue being the amazing father you are right now. You’ll teach her about right and wrong, and you’ll make sure she grows up to be an amazing young woman. And then when I return, you’ll introduce us, so I can be friends with her.”

Nathan pulled Audrey in his arms, crushing her cheek to his chest. “I can’t lose you, Audrey.”

They stood there for what seemed like an eternity – their piques with each other slipping away with each tick of the clock.

Finally, Nathan pulled back. “I need to get out of here for a while. Can I take you to lunch? I hear that the Salt Shaker has a decent lunch spread.”

For the first time in what seemed like days, Audrey’s heart lifted a little, and the corners of her lips twitched up. “I’d like that.”

Nathan pulled her back into one more hug before tucking her under his arm as he walked towards the door. They were about to head out into the parking lot, when Nathan heard his name called, so he stopped, and saw Officer Evans moving towards him. He nodded to Evans.

“Nathan, are you going to the meeting tonight? You’ve already missed a few of them.”

Nathan looked at Audrey who shrugged and mirrored his confused look. “Meeting? What meeting?”

Officer Evans threw a quick glance towards the bullpen, and then stepped a little closer to the wall, making a small attempt to have their conversation not overheard. “The meeting for Troubled people. Didn’t you get the invitation? Most of us have. It’s almost disconcerting how much Karter knows about us.”

Nathan felt Audrey squeeze his hand tighter, but she stayed quiet. “Karter?”

“Yeah, he’s the one organizing the whole thing. Somehow, I’ve never met him before, which is weird, because I feel like everyone in Haven knows everyone. He’s been putting together meetings to help people whose Troubles have been activating. He’s really good at it.”

Audrey could feel her blood running cold, and it was taking every ounce of her will to keep herself from running out the door right here and now. “We haven’t received anything. Where is the meeting?”

“I’ll text you the information.” Evans turned back to Nathan. “Who knows Nathan, maybe he can do something to help you.”

Nathan slowly nodded, trying desperately to not show his shock. “Yeah, who knows.”

“Well, hopefully see you tonight!” And with that, Evans threw Nathan and Audrey a quick wave, and continued on.

Audrey slowly turned towards Nathan, her heart racing. “Karter? Do you think?”

Nathan shook his head. “Don’t get your hopes up, Parker.” But even as he said the words, Nathan could feel hope bubbling up in his chest. This might finally be the lead that they needed. He had been helping Doyle the night before putting together the information Audrey had requested, and knew that she was on to something big. He stayed up hours trying to see what was there, but couldn’t find anything. Maybe this was it. Maybe they were all going to this meeting, and Karter was actually James. But, people on his police force were going to these meetings, shouldn’t they have recognized him? Nathan could feel his blood start to boil, and he was already thinking about who on the force was Troubled and could be going to these meetings, and not mention seeing James. Evans was first on his list, but he needed Evans’ information, so he would be safe for now. The proverbial clock was ticking down, and Nathan needed something to make it stop. Hopefully this meeting was that first major step they needed.

\-------------------


	20. Finally United

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Totally don’t own these characters, or this world. I just like to be a part of it.
> 
> Author’s Notes: Heads up – time shift again. 
> 
> Here’s the promised Tuesday update!

** Finally United **

“Marry me.”

“Excuse me?”

Nathan had been staring at Audrey for what seemed like an eternity, and the words just popped out. It was late, and they were both holed up at the station. He was sitting at his old desk in her office, because they had been going back and forth earlier about a case they were working on, and it was just easier to be in the same room. And her office always smelled like her, which was one of the most calming things Nathan had ever encountered. He felt like if something ever happened where he couldn’t be with her, he would spend time here, because the smell comforted him, and made him feel like he was surrounded by her.

They had been living together for months now, and had yet to get sick of each other. If anything, they were growing closer together. They spent every minute possible together, and even during the few hours here and there where they would be split up on a case, Nathan found himself missing her. He didn’t even think it was possible to want to be with anyone else that much, but with Audrey, it was easy. She had this uncanny ability to just put him at ease, and he found himself laughing more than he ever had. She made him feel whole, and making her laugh was the highlight of his day. She forced him out of his comfort zone, and he loved it. They had already fallen into such a domesticated routine, and he wanted nothing more than to make it official. He wanted to see her finger glistening with a diamond that he put there, so that the entire world would know she was his, and his alone.

And here in this office, in the still of the night, everything seemed to fall into place. Her hair was piled on top of her head, held together with a pencil, and as she chewed on another pen, she leaned back in her chair, the familiar creak breaking the silence of the evening. She was a sight to behold. To the uninformed, she was a slight woman, not even hitting the average height, with blonde hair and blue eyes that immediately called upon some crazy stereotype that she probably couldn’t make it out of her own door without help. But Nathan knew better. He knew that this tiny creature in front of him was one of the strongest people he knew. Not only could she hold her own in a fight, but she damn well could hold the weight of an entire town on her shoulders, and not crack. She saved everyone all on her own. She saved him. And with her cute nose and pouty lips, and gun strapped to her waist, she was as hot as hell, and somehow she was his. So, in the faint light from their crummy lamps, she was the picture of perfection, and why the words slipped from his mouth. Even her sarcastic response made him grin. Everything about her was exactly what he wanted – what he needed. She kept him in check, but she made him live. And life would not be worth living at all if she wasn’t by his side, with him every step of the way. He knew that without a doubt the moment she walked into the Barn, and he never wanted to relive her leaving ever again.

He often dreamed of her with a belly swollen with their child, and he would wake up every single time and take her right then and there, because he wanted nothing as much as he wanted her. She was his lifeline.

“Marry me.”

Audrey winged up an eyebrow and looked at Nathan, trying to determine if he was kidding or not. This completely was not the kind of thing to kid around about, but sometimes that man could throw her for a loop. He had been able to do that since the day she met him. And she loved him for it. But this was completely unexpected. And he looked much too sincere to be joking. In fact, he looked as though he was looking right into her soul – and seeing a future of the two of them she had only dreamed about. It was throwing her off balance, and making butterflies dance in her stomach. He was looking at her like he did those nights when he would wake her up and make love to her for no reason at all. “You’re kidding me, right?”

Nathan shook his head. “I have never been more serious about anything in my entire life.”

The butterflies in Audrey’s stomach intensified as she watched Nathan slowly get up from his chair, and walk around the desk to her, never breaking eye contact. And as he dropped to one knee, she was pretty sure her heart stopped beating. She couldn’t feel her face, and could only pray that her breathing didn’t actually sound as erratic as it felt. “Nathan…”

Nathan looked up into those clear blue eyes he could get lost in for days, and licked his lips. “Audrey Parker, will you marry me?”

Audrey’s heart slammed back into gear, and she was fairly positive it was going to leap out of her chest right then and there. She felt faint. The enormity of the situation was pressing down on her, and she needed something to ease it back. She licked her suddenly dry lips, and looked down at her hands that were now fully engulfed in Nathan’s impossibly long fingers. Those fingers. God, what he could do with those fingers. She shook her head to get her thoughts back to the here and now. “Um, shouldn’t there be a ring that usually accompanies this situation?”

Nathan shook his head and grinned. Of course she would point out the one thing missing in this scenario. “I’ll get you a ring later. I’ll get you anything you want. I’ll give you the world, Audrey. I just want you. I want you to say yes so I can take you home and make love to you.”

God, how could this be Nathan Wuornos sitting here in front of her? That had to be the most romantic thing she had ever heard in her entire life, and surely couldn’t have come from her stoic partner. He never said things like that, and seemed so out of character – yet, was so him. It was a part of him he reserved only for her. Audrey was fairly positive there wasn’t an ounce of air in the room, because she, for the life of her, could not get her lungs to take any in. She couldn’t even look him in the eye for fear of being crushed by the intensity of his look. “Nathan, you take me home every day and make love to me.”

“But now you’ll be mine.”

At this, her eyes flew to his, and she cupped his face. She could feel tears starting to roll down her cheeks, and couldn’t believe this was the person she had become. Only months ago, she would never act like this – she would stay strong, and more than likely, run from the situation. She definitely wouldn’t sit here and be such a girl. But, here she was, and she was ok with it. This was exactly where she wanted to be, and with whom she wanted to be. There was nothing she wanted more than to be with Nathan forever, as sappy as that may sound. She no longer had a reason to run. “Oh Nathan, I’ve always been yours.”

“Does this mean you will?”

Does it? Why wouldn’t it? She had moved so far past who she once was. She no longer had to run from intense situations, afraid of the outcome. No, now she could meet them head on, and enjoy her life. She could live the life she hadn’t been able to live for hundreds of years. And so, she nodded. “Of course I will.” And then she was pulled into his arms and into an impossibly deep kiss. She could feel her body starting to respond to his, and in the moment, was fully willing to let anything and everything happen in their office. She didn’t even care that their door was open, and a few of the night officers were milling around.

Nathan pulled back and leaned his forehead against hers. “Oh god, Audrey, you mean the world to me. I want you in our bed, and lose myself in you for days.”

She felt heady and wanted nothing more than to be at home with Nathan. “I still get a ring though, right?”

He smirked as only he could in that situation and nodded as they stood up together. They didn’t even bother to turn off the computers or lights as they walked out the door. The only thing that mattered in that moment was getting home so they could lose themselves in each other, as a newly engaged couple.

\-----------------------------------------

“Do we have to tell him?”

“Nathan, he’s our friend. Of course we have to tell him.”

Nathan sighed. No matter how long he knew Duke, Duke’s sarcastic remarks to anything always grated on him. But she was right, deep down, Duke was a good friend. Duke was always there for them, and that’s what mattered. Both he and Audrey relied on Duke so much, it would be wrong to not tell him about being engaged. So, with that thought in mind, Nathan gripped Audrey’s hand a little tighter than usual, and walked into the Gull with her, angling for a table near the corner. Ever since she had said yes, he didn’t want to let her go, and took every opportunity he could find to keep touching her, and tonight that meant sitting side by side at the table while drinking. When they neared the table, Nathan stepped aside to let Audrey slide in first, and then slid in next to her, draping his arm across her shoulders so that he could toy with the hem of her shirt sleeve with his fingers.

Gord brought over their usual drink orders, and they settled back to wait for Duke. Audrey had texted him earlier to say they would be in, so it was strange they hadn’t yet seen him. “Where do you think he is?”

Audrey shrugged her shoulders. “It is pretty busy in here tonight, so maybe he’s helping out in the kitchen.”

Just as Nathan was about to signal to Gord to order some food, the interior of the Gull plunged into near darkness. Now that he had all his senses back, being in total darkness wasn’t as unsettling as it was when he didn’t have his sense of touch, but it still would throw him off balance. Audrey seemed to sense his quickening pulse, and reached under the table to lay a hand on his thigh.

“Leave it to Duke to not pay his power bill.”

“Be nice, Nathan.”

Nathan looked around the room as his eyes adjusted, and quickly realized that no one was panicking. It was almost as if they were expecting the lights to go out. “Something’s not right here.”

“You think? The lights are out, Nathan.”

Nathan turned towards Audrey, who was definitely smirking at him. “Thank you, Officer Parker, for that enlightening observation.”

“You’re welcome, Chief Wuornos.”

Normally in this kind of situation, Nathan would have tweaked Audrey’s nose and leaned in for a kiss. He loved how carefree and playful she was getting now that their lives were settling down. But he couldn’t, because something was still off. “No, isn’t it weird that no one is reacting? It’s almost as if they were expecting the lights to go off.”

And right at that moment, thousands of tiny Christmas lights lit up across the ceiling, and down the walls, creating a spectacular ambiance. Nathan looked around and knew something was definitely up. And when Duke rushed out of the kitchen area in a flourish that only Duke could do, Nathan’s suspicions were confirmed.

“Ladies and gentleman, thank you for coming tonight. Thank you even more for consuming large quantities of alcohol, because your tips pay my bills.”

Nathan rolled his eyes as Duke moved around the bar and headed in their direction.

“But tonight I would like to pay special tribute to my dear friends Nathan and Audrey. While I’ve only known Audrey for a relatively short time, she has become an integral part of my life, and I can’t imagine my life without her.”

As Duke talked, Nathan dropped his arm from Audrey’s shoulders and instead put it behind her back, pulling her close. He finally figured out what was going on, and he wasn’t sure how to react, so pulling Audrey close was the best thing to do. He could feel her squeeze his thigh, and knew she was trying to keep up her composure.

“Now, Nathan here however, we all know how he and I get along, right?”

There was a round of chuckles and cheers from the crowd. Sometimes living in a small town wasn’t as great as it was cracked up to be. Everyone knew everyone, and had more than likely grown up with each other. There were no secrets.

“Now, now.” Duke waved his arms in a gesture to calm the crowd down so he could keep talking. “Regardless of our past, Nathan and I have become closer this past year, and I have to say he’s my best friend. And because of that, I wanted to be one of the first to congratulate him for finally growing a set and asking this amazing woman who is Audrey, to marry him. Sorry, ladies, but Chief Wuornos is officially taken! And guys, you never had a chance with Audrey.”

Duke looked around his bar and grinned as the room was filled with laughter and boos. When he turned back towards Audrey and Nathan, he raised a glass in the air. “To Audrey and Nathan. May they live happily ever after.”

The bar erupted in a chorus of cheers, and Nathan pulled Audrey close to his body, while he raised his beer glass to Duke. He made eye contact with Duke, nodded his head, and took a drink.

Audrey stood up to give Duke a hug, and pulled him back towards their table as the lights slowly turned back on in the Gull, and the patrons got back to their previous conversations. “How did you know? We came here to tell you tonight.”

“I make it my business to know everything that goes on in this town, Audrey.” Duke leaned back in his chair and smirked at Nathan. “And besides, I know every jeweler within 40 miles of Haven. The second Nathan walked in the store, I got a phone call.”

Nathan could only shake his head. Of course Duke would have been the first to know. But, it was true, they had become closer over the past year, and he was his best friend. “Thanks, Duke.”

Duke reached across the table to shake Nathan’s hand. “Nathan, I’m proud of you. I am. Congratulations, you two. And now, enjoy dinner on me. Lobster roll for you, Audrey, and pancakes for you, Nathan.”

Nathan could feel Audrey slightly bouncing in excitement at the mention of a lobster roll and couldn’t hide his grin.

“But, I shall leave you two. Feel free to put everything on my tab tonight.” And with that, he walked away, leaving his two friends to enjoy their evening.

\---------------------

“Why is this so difficult?”

“Because you’re overthinking it.”

Nathan pulled away from Audrey’s finger that was tapping on his temple. He knew she was making fun of him, but tying a tie was way more difficult than people gave it credit for. Why did it have to be so hard? Thankfully she convinced him to practice doing this tonight, because if he had this many problems tomorrow with Duke, he was pretty sure he would end up showing up to his own wedding without a tie.

“Here, let me.”

His male pride hated to admit it, but there were just some things Audrey was better at than he, and tying ties was one of those things. How she knew how to do it, neither knew, but at least one of them could do it. He watched her as she concentrated on what she was doing, talking out the steps he knew he should be paying attention to, but he just couldn’t. All he could think about was that tomorrow they would be getting married. Tomorrow, she would be Audrey Wuornos, and would be 100% his. She always told him that she was always his, but now it would be official. Now even her name would show that. When she finished, and patted the tie to his chest, Nathan put his fingers under her chin so she would look up at him. He leaned down, and lightly touched his lips to hers before resting his forehead against hers. “Are you sure you won’t stay tonight? I’ll make it worth your while.”

Audrey pulled back and grinned, lightly swatting him on the chest. “Nathan Wuornos! You know it’s bad luck to see the bride before the wedding.”

“That’s just superstition.”

“Nathan, this is Haven. If there was anywhere where superstitions will come true, it’s here. I’m not taking any chances.”

Nathan put his hands on Audrey’s hips, and pulled her close. “I don’t know how I’m going to make it through the night without you.”

Audrey put her hands on Nathan’s chest, and looked up at him. “Just keep thinking that 24 hours from now, we will be happily married, and you’ll have me all to yourself for the next two weeks.”

“Trust me, I haven’t been thinking of much else.”

Audrey could only gasp at the look Nathan was giving her. It was so…possessive. It did things to her, but she had to resist. She knew if she gave into him right now, she would never want to leave their bed. Nathan was everything to her. Her entire time in Haven, she had been searching for her identity – who she really was - and now, as Audrey Parker, she was finding that she was really no one without Nathan. She couldn’t wait to be Audrey Wuornos. For the first time, she was finally able to choose her next identity, and this was one which called to her on all levels.

And besides, she needed one last evening of drinking with Duke before she became Audrey Wuornos, because as much as she loved Nathan, she knew he would never be entirely impressed with her hanging out solo with Duke. And, Nathan had his night with Duke the night before. So, she had fully planned on spending the evening with Duke, and then spending one last single night in her old apartment. But, her body was burning with need, especially with the way Nathan was looking at her. She snuck a glance at the clock by the bedside table and saw it was still relatively early in the evening, and she already had everything packed. Her dress and everything for the wedding was already at the apartment, so she just had her overnight bag. “You know, I was thinking of taking a shower before I left, and I always could use a hand with washing my back.”

She was crushed to his body, his lips on hers before she even knew what was happening, but god, was it worth it. Her fingers found their way to Nathan’s tie, and started pulling it apart, but were quickly stopped.

“Wait, don’t fully undo it. There’s no way I’ll get it tied back up tomorrow.”

Audrey threw her head back and laughed, and instead only loosened the tie to pull it over Nathan’s head. She tossed it carelessly on the bed, and allowed herself to be backed into the bathroom for a quick shower.

\---------------------

“You’re late.”

Audrey rolled her eyes and plopped down on the barstool at the bar. The Gull was hopping, and exactly what she was hoping for tonight. “I had something I needed to do.”

“Yeah, I bet you did.”

Audrey could feel herself blushing. “Let’s just start with the drinking, Duke.”

Duke smirked at her, and started mixing together a martini for Audrey.

“So, what’s it like knowing that by this time tomorrow, you’ll have a much less easily pronounceable last name?”

Audrey snorted as she watched Duke expertly shake the martini shaker before pouring the clear liquid into a cool glass. “I hadn’t thought of that, actually. But, most people here know Nathan, so I don’t see it being a problem.”

“Well, the Troubles are gone, so it’s not like you two need to stay here in Haven. Have you ever thought about moving elsewhere?”

Moving elsewhere? Why would they do that? It was something she had honestly never thought of before. It was just so natural to stay here in Haven. Nathan had grown up here, and in a way, she had as well. It was kind of nice being in a small town where almost everyone knew everyone. It was so relaxed, and from what she could remember of Boston, just a better environment – especially for a family. And that was something else she had been thinking about a lot – starting a family. It seemed like such a natural thing to do with Nathan, especially now the Troubles were gone. Audrey Parker did not seem to be the mommy type, but as they were finding themselves further and further away from the Troubles, she felt herself becoming a more and more different person than who she had been when she first arrived in Haven. Now, she could see herself growing old here, raising a family here, maybe even having a dog at some point. No, they wouldn’t move. They would stay right here.

“Audrey, are you there? Come back to me.”

The snapping of Duke’s fingers brought Audrey out of her musings. “Oh, sorry. I was just thinking. But no, we wouldn’t move elsewhere. Besides, you’d miss me too much.” She looked up at Duke and smirked. She would miss him too.

Duke held up his own glass for a toast, and clinked it with Audrey’s. “I definitely would.”

The two friends took a healthy gulp and sat in companionable silence for a few moments, contemplating how much of an effect each has already had on the other’s life before they fell into their usual banter, talking about anything and everything. It was exactly what Audrey needed.

\--------------------

Nathan woke up in the morning feeling like something was missing, and as he looked over to her empty side of the bed, he knew it was Audrey he was missing. But the realization that in a few hours, she would forever be with him, got him up and out of bed and into the shower.

As he moved into the bedroom and started getting his clothes ready for the day, he had to hunt a few minutes for his tie. He hadn’t noticed where Audrey had thrown it the night before – she was distracting him after all – and it had flown under the bed. Thankfully, it was still tied together, so he could slip it over his head and just tighten it when he needed to.

When the heavy knock landed on his door, Nathan could feel his heart quicken. Duke was finally here to drive him to the wedding. The night had seemed endless after Audrey left – even if she did leave much later than originally planned – so he was ready to get through this day and be on his honeymoon. And of course, it didn’t help that Duke had insisted on driving both of them to the wedding. Since Audrey was still worried about superstitions, Nathan was going to be picked up first, which would mean having to wait at the wedding site for her to be picked up, but, at least he would be there instead of sitting alone on his couch, watching the clock tick by. He quickly stood up, grabbed his coat, and opened the door.

“Oh, look! You managed to tie your own tie. I’m impressed, Nathan.”

Out of habit, Nathan scowled at Duke, but knew Duke was just ribbing him. During his bachelor party, under the influence of much too much alcohol, Nathan had admitted to Duke his fear of tying ties, and of course had never been able to live it down. Duke didn’t need to know it was still an issue – he could do it of course, it just took a lot of concentration – and he definitely didn’t need to know Audrey had tied this one for him.

“Yeah, I have many hidden talents.”

Duke’s facial expression softened, and he leaned slightly towards Nathan. “Hey, I’m really happy for you, Nathan. You of all people deserve to be happy, and I can see how happy Audrey makes you.”

Nathan could feel his body relaxing slightly, and was happy in that moment he and Duke had made such great strides in their friendship. “Thanks, Duke.”

Duke nodded, knowing there was no need for any other show of affection, and jerked his thumb behind him. “Shall we?”

Nathan walked out, pulling the door closed behind him. “Let’s go.”

\--------------------

Audrey stood in front of her floor length mirror and smoothed her white dress over her stomach. She was nervous, and couldn’t figure out why. There was nothing she wanted more than to be with Nathan, but still, there were butterflies dancing in her stomach. After refusing coffee and food all morning, Duke had finally forced her to drink a shot of bourbon, and it had calmed her nerves enough that she was able to eat some toast. It was going to have to do until the reception.

“Are you ready?”

Audrey turned and looked towards Duke’s voice and nodded. “Well, don’t you clean up nice.”

Duke stood before her in a crisp tux, with his hair tied back in a neat ponytail. “You sound surprised.”

“No, just appreciative.”

“You look stunning, Audrey.”

“Flatterer. Do you think Nathan will like it?”

“Audrey, you could be wearing a burlap sack and Nathan would like it.”

Audrey smiled. What could you say to that? She was so fortunate to have found not one, but two great men to help her through life. And it was time to be united with one of them for all of time. “Let’s go.”

\---------------------

“I feel like we should be doing something more exciting right now, but, I’m exhausted.” As a cool breeze blew off the water in their direction, Audrey pulled her legs up on the bench so she could tuck her bare feet under her body, and snuggled closer to Nathan’s body. He always did radiate so much heat. Sometimes, while in bed, it was stifling, but right now as they watched colors dance across the sky over the water as the sun set, she was grateful for it. Nathan of course, always the gentleman, had offered to go get her a blanket, but she didn’t want him to leave for even a second.

She had wanted him to choose their honeymoon spot, but when he told her he was fine with just staying at the house, she had disagreed, and ended up finding a cute little remote cottage overlooking the ocean. It was high up on the rocky cliff, but there was a gentle path leading down to a beach below. The owners had guaranteed it was very private, and they would have the entire area to themselves for the next two weeks. It sounded perfect to Audrey, because it not only got them away from Haven, but it also allowed them to be with only each other. There was a small town a short drive away, but neither had any intentions of ever venturing out. In fact, Nathan had paid the owners extra to make sure the cottage was fully stocked with groceries.

When they opened the front door upon arrival, two things managed to take Audrey’s breath away. One, the most impressive bouquet of flowers she had ever seen was sitting on the dining room table, and it was accompanied by a note from the owners of the cottage wishing Audrey and Nathan a fantastic honeymoon and to enjoy the champagne left in the fridge. Two, the view out of the back glass doors was incredible. All that could be seen was ocean. Sure, they could see that in Haven every day, but this was different. This was magical, and was only being seen by the two of them in that moment.

She dropped her sandals she was carrying on the floor, and walked through the cottage and out the back doors. The longer grass tickled her bare feet, but she was like a moth to a flame as she headed towards the wooden bench that sat near the edge of the cliff, perfectly overlooking the water below. The cool breeze blew her hair from her face and her sundress behind her, and the sky in front of her lit up in a dazzling watercolor. She sat down on the bench and couldn’t tear her eyes away from the explosion of colors in front of her. A few moments later, Nathan settled beside her and handed her a flute of champagne. He tilted his against hers, and a gentle clink could be heard above the rush of the waves below. “Cheers, Mrs. Wuornos.”

“Cheers, Mr. Wuornos.” Audrey smiled, and never looked away from Nathan’s eyes as she took a sip of the bubbly drink.

He couldn’t believe they were actually here. The first time he had been on a cliff with this woman, she pulled a gun on him. Never in a million years would he have guessed at that moment she would eventually become his wife, and he would be spending another unforgettable moment with her on a cliff. He could feel himself starting to get lost in her eyes, but like her earlier confession, he also was exhausted. It had been such a long day.

Seeing Audrey walk down the aisle had been one of the most thrilling moments of his life – but then, pretty much all of the thrilling moments of his life now included some memory of her. They stood there in front of their friends and professed their love for each other, finally having rings slipped on their fingers. After dancing and eating for hours, they slipped away in the Bronco, and drove out to the cottage Audrey found for their honeymoon. He originally told her he was fine with spending their honeymoon at the house, but now that he was here, he was so happy she got aggravated at him and went ahead and booked this place. It was perfect, and they had the place to themselves for the next two weeks. Even spending the extra money for the owners to stock the cottage with food was totally worth it.

When he saw her shiver, he offered to go get her a blanket, but she shook her head and just snuggled closer to him, so he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her in as close as he could. He kissed the top of her head, breathing in the scent of lilacs and vanilla that was distinctly her, and sighed. This was perfect.

And as the colors danced across the sky in front of him, he knew this was the moment the rest of his life would begin.


	21. The Meeting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Totally don’t own these characters, or this world. I just like to be a part of it.
> 
> Author’s Notes: Heads up – time shift again. 
> 
> Here’s the promised Tuesday update!

** The Meeting **

Nathan gave Audrey a reassuring squeeze of her hand as they stood outside the vacation home that was nestled deep within the woods outside of Haven. A steady stream of people headed towards the open front door, some nodding in the Wuornos’ direction as they passed. “Do you remember what we agreed on?”

Audrey rolled her eyes. “Nathan, I’m not going to do anything stupid.”

Nathan smiled down at her. “Good, you remember.” Satisfied with the steely glare she shot him, Nathan tugged on her hand and started the walk to the house. Never would he admit it to Audrey, but his heart was racing. His gut was telling him that with 100% certainty, James was sitting in that house. What he was doing, and why he was out here, were not as clear, but he was definitely here, and apparently had been here for weeks, carefully eluding the police department.

As they entered the house, Nathan could feel the energy in the room. It was almost dizzying. In his experience with Troubled people thus far, it always seemed that whenever there were a group of them in a room, the overarching feeling was that of fear – not energized like how it felt here. It seemed like people were excited here. Some were actually bragging about what their Troubles could do. Everyone was talking, and laughing. Waiters were walking through with trays held high that were filled with hors d’oeuvres and glasses that looked to contain champagne. What was going on here? Was this a celebration?

Evans had texted Nathan and Audrey the information about the meeting tonight, and told them that even though the meeting started at 10pm, they really should get there at 9pm – and judging by the swell of people in the house already at 9:30, Nathan had the sense that many had already been here for hours. It felt like everyone wanted to be here, and nowhere else. It was like they had found their own people and no longer needed anyone else. As he waved off another tray of food, Nathan looked down at Audrey, who seemed to be as stumped as he.

“Nathan!”

Nathan and Audrey both turned their heads to see Evans walking towards them and Nathan nodded as Evans neared. “Evans. Thanks for the information. This seems like quite a set up.” Nathan glanced around once more as he spoke, politely nodding to another one of his officers who walked by and waved.

Evans looked around the room as well and grinned. “Yeah, Karter really wants to make everyone feel at home. So, what better way, than to feed them and give them free booze?”

“Isn’t anyone worried about getting drunk and accidentally setting off their Trouble?”

Evans shook his head at Audrey. “No. You should know best, Audrey. People’s Troubles are only activated because of an emotionally traumatic event.” Evans paused and licked his lips, nervously glancing at Nathan. Audrey could tell Evans suddenly realized he was treading on thin ice with Nathan, since everyone assumed Nathan’s Trouble was activated by Juliet’s accident. She watched as Evans shook his head slightly to try to calm himself down and continue with what he was saying.

“But, um, well, Karter has provided kind of a safe house for everyone here. Everyone that comes knows they have this place to go if they ever find themselves in a situation they can’t control, and those whose Troubles have already activated, well, they know they can come here and Karter will help them control the Trouble. A lot of them actually keep coming back to give motivational speeches. We usually have a few each meeting.”

“How many meetings have occurred?” Nathan could hear the incredulousness in his own voice. If people were able to control their Troubles because they already knew about this place and felt safe, this had been going on for a while – a long while. He mentally tried to count back how many weeks ago it was they had lost all trace of James. Had he already been here right under their noses and they didn’t even know it?

“Hmmm, I’m not even sure.” Evans paused as the lights began to dim. “Oh, look! We’re about to start. Don’t get in there too late, or you’ll have to stand. See you in there!”

Nathan gave a slight wave in Evans’ direction as he scurried off towards the large living room.

“What exactly is going on here?”

Nathan looked down at Audrey and shrugged his shoulders. This was definitely odd. So far, it seemed as though they were getting ready to enter a theatrical production – right down to the dimming lights alerting people the show was about to start. He was also curious as to whose house this was. He had lived in Haven his entire life, and had never laid eyes on the place. Was it recently built? Who owned it? Where they Troubled as well? With that thought, Nathan pulled out his phone, and sent a quick text to Doyle to look into the history of the house.

With what Evans was saying, it seemed as though James was helping the Troubled – something which was expected of the person who came from the Barn – but why was he doing it in secret? Or was this a normal occurrence? Maybe Audrey had done something similar in one of her lifetimes. Lord knows in this persona, she was as loud as a train, but maybe before she had been a touch more subtle. Nathan looked down at Audrey with the thought and snorted. He couldn’t believe for a second that his wife in any lifetime was quiet.

“What?” Audrey looked up at Nathan as a grin played at his lips.

Nathan shook his head and leaned down to kiss Audrey lightly on her lips. “Nothing. I was just thinking about something.” He watched as Audrey narrowed her eyes at him, and then tugged at her hand. “Come on, let’s go get a space. And, let’s get something near the back of the room. I want to stay as inconspicuous as possible for now.”

“You might need to sit down somewhere then, because you’re taller than most people here.”

God, he loved her teasing him. It always kept him on his toes, and the fact she was doing it here, in this situation, meant her anxiety was finally lowering. Maybe it was because she knew there was a good chance she would come face to face with James tonight. But, how that was lowering her anxiety, he would never know, because his was rising with every breath. If Karter did turn out to be James, how was James going to react? Would he recognize them? Duke said it appeared as though James recognized him. And if he did, would he run away? Would he run to them? What if he didn’t recognize them at all? Would they have to work to gain his trust?  

As they made their way into the impressive living room, they were able to find a couple of chairs near the back of the room to sit in. It allowed them to look over the crowd, but also allowed them to get lost in the group. There had to be almost 100 people there, and Nathan spent time scanning the faces of people around him, to see if he knew them or not. He recognized most, but there were a few here and there he didn’t remember ever seeing. He also counted at least five members of his police force, and mentally wrote down their names so he could question them himself in the morning, depending on how this evening went.

There was a nervous chatter running through the room, and Nathan could feel the level of excitement starting to grow. It really felt like they were in a theater waiting for a play to start, and when all the lights went out, Nathan had to stifle a groan. If this went the way of a televangelist, and Karter turned out to be James, he would arrest James right then and there. No offspring of his was going to do something like that.  As his eyes adjusted to the sudden darkness, he could feel Audrey’s hand creep into his own. She knew he hated being in the dark when he didn’t have his sense of touch. It was bad enough to be one sense down, but add in a second sense, and the anxiety would start to crush him. So, having her touch as an anchor allowed him to slow his racing heart, and realize that the room wasn’t actually as dark as it first seemed. No, instead, there was a soft glow from a few strategically placed candles, and the drapes on the windows were pulled wide open, allowing the glow from the full moon to light up the room.

And all at once, everyone stopped talking. It was like everyone knew on some basic level what was going to happen next, and all knew it was time to be silent. Nathan started looking around, and noticed that everyone had their heads turned to the entryway to the room that was furthest from him. He turned his head in the same direction and watched as a man walked into the room. As the man entered, everyone stood and started applauding, and Nathan had to look at Audrey in disbelief. What was going on? He couldn’t wrap his mind around the scene playing out in front of him. But as everyone started to sit, he could instantly see why none of his officers in attendance had any reason to believe the man in front of them was James. No, Nathan knew without a doubt that if he hadn’t come here expecting to see James standing in front of him, he would never have thought this man was in fact, James. The lack of lighting was not only a mood enhancer, but it was also a cover. Everyone looks different in the soft glow of candlelight, and when in a large room with barely any other light, it was difficult to make out features. And, even if one could, and was focusing in only on the appearance of the man at the front of the room, and not being distracted by what was being said, it would be difficult to say with certainty that this man was James Cogan. Nathan had his entire force on the lookout for someone that vaguely looked like Duke – everyone had been given James’ drunk and disorderly mugshot. The man standing at the front of the room however, did not look like Duke. No, rather, he was completely bald – not even any eyebrows. His body was covered by a flowing, dark robe, and it was hunched over as he leaned on a cane. And his one tell-tale feature – the one thing that could never change, no matter what, his eyes, were shielded behind dark glasses. Even Audrey, who had gone through so many different looks, could always be recognized by her eyes. They were too striking to belong to anyone else. But this man did not look like the mugshot, and Nathan instantly knew his officers weren’t holding anything back from him. This man looked nothing like the one they were told to be on the lookout for.

However, his parental instincts took over similar to how they did every time Juliet was in a crowd – he could spot her a mile away without even seeing her face – and it was the same here with James. Without a doubt, he knew that this man standing at the front of the room was James, even though there was no telltale sign it was him. And when Nathan heard Audrey’s sharp intake of breath beside him, he squeezed her hand, knowing her instincts were telling her the exact same thing as his. But why did James look like this? Why did he look so…old?

As James started to speak, Nathan paid no attention. He couldn’t stop staring at the man in front of him, and as possibility after possibility went through his mind, he just couldn’t figure out what was happening. Was James aging as he spent time here in Haven? Why would that be? Audrey never aged when she was here. She was of course, aging now, as was he, but during her short times in Haven in each lifetime, she never aged. So why would James? And why this quickly? Was this another side effect of the Barn dropping him off early? Another side effect of him not supposed to be with the Barn? It just didn’t make sense.

Nathan watched as James hobbled to the side of the room, and as various members of the audience got up to speak. He half listened as a handful of people spoke about how Karter had helped them to get rid of their Trouble, and how knowledgeable he was. They didn’t even have to tell him what their Trouble was – just their name, and Karter knew what to do. That nugget of information piqued Nathan’s interest. It was similar to what Evans was saying – that Karter seemed to know everyone. Nathan licked his lips as a thought occurred to him. Duke had mentioned that when he saw James in the park, it was as if James recognized him. What if that was true? Nathan himself had told Duke it made sense since James remembered everything the last time he came out of the Barn. What if that was the case this time as well? He and Audrey had been operating under the assumption that James wouldn’t recognize them, just as Audrey didn’t recognize anyone when she returned. But what if James could? What if he recognized everyone in this room based on his experiences with Lucy? What if he already knew about the Troubles of each person? But even that didn’t really make sense. There’s no way he could have run into everyone in town with Lucy. Even Audrey was still meeting people, and she had been here almost a decade now. But if James already knew a lot of them, he knew the history of the town, so there was nothing stopping him from gaining access to the Haven Herald archives and gaining information from there. Hell, he probably hacked into the Teagues’ hard drives and therefore had access to the real stories of everyone – he may have even hacked into the Trouble files in the Haven PD. Nathan pulled out his phone and immediately texted Doyle with this thought train to get him to look into any security breaches.

People had cycled through speaking, and James was now back at the front of the room, so Nathan tuned back into what was going on.

“Well, now we’ve come to the part of the evening where I would like to meet any new members of our group. Please, stand up. Let me know who you are.”

James’ voice was weak, but Nathan’s finely tuned hearing picked up that not only was it definitely James’ voice, but, something was off about it. He couldn’t place it, but it was off. People started to stand, looking nervously around them as people clapped. Nathan looked around at them all, but was drawn back to James, and realized that even though he couldn’t see James’ eyes, Nathan knew without a doubt that James was looking right at him. It was distracting, because he had a gut feeling that James knew exactly who he was. He could feel Audrey tense beside him, and he knew she was feeling it too. But before he could do anything about it, James turned back to the rest of the group.

“I want to welcome all of our new members. Please, feel free to stay later so I can speak with you individually. You are also welcome to stay the night if you need a safe place to stay.”

Nathan felt his heart stop when James turned back towards him.

“There is however, one new member who was too shy to stand up. This new member has a very unique Trouble. All of you have Troubles that can affect other people, but this particular individual has a Trouble that only affects him – one that has left him closed off from the world. I am going to make it my personal mission to make sure I can cure this particular Trouble.”

While he couldn’t feel it, Nathan was pretty sure the hairs on the back of his neck were standing straight up. Unconsciously, he moved a hand up to rub them back down, and was very aware of people starting to look in his direction. It was well known in town that his was one of the rare Troubles – ones that only affect the individual.

“I won’t ask the individual to stand up, but I do thank him for taking time out of his busy schedule to come visit us. Please, let’s give him a hand.”

People started clapping all around, and Nathan had to look at the ground. What was James doing? As the clapping died down, Nathan took a deep breath. So much for staying inconspicuous. But, it didn’t seem as though James was planning on running from them – rather, it seemed as though he was actively seeking them. Well, actively seeking them now they were here. Was this some kind of trap? Did he lure them here for a reason? Nathan could feel his blood start to run cold. James wouldn’t be trying to get Audrey to return to the Barn, would he? He wasn’t exactly thrilled to see her the last time he exited the Barn, but Nathan was pretty sure everything with that had been smoothed over. Was he angry that the Barn had only taken him this time and not Audrey?

“Thank you all for coming, and please keep an eye on your phones for information about the next meeting.”

As people around them got up to start making their way to the door, Nathan turned to Audrey. “What was that?”

Audrey shook her head. “I have no idea. But, I know that man was James, regardless of how he looks, and he knows who we are, Nathan, I know it.” She paused before speaking again. “Why does he look so old?”

Nathan drew in a breath and narrowed his eyes in thought. “I don’t think he’s really old. I think it’s a cover.”

“What are you talking about?”

“We’ve had our entire police force looking for him, right? And what was our plan? To bring him in and question him? If you think about it, if you knew you were going to be hauled into a police station, you would hide, wouldn’t you?”

“Not if I knew the people involved, no.”

“But Parker, if you really think about it, you don’t know the people involved. Or, James doesn’t know the people involved.”

“Nathan, he’s our son.”

“Yes, but Audrey, he met you and I for what, a few hours? How can he really know us? And now that he’s out of the Barn, he must see that it was only him that was trapped in the Barn – you got to stay. Wouldn’t you see that as a betrayal? For all he knows, we meant for him to be taken away.”

Audrey pulled back slightly. “What are you saying? He was injured, Nathan. If he wasn’t in the Barn, he would have died.”

“I know that, but you have to think about how it would look to the person it happened to.”

Audrey flicked her eyes to the front of the now almost empty room. Nathan was right. If James had put her in the Barn, and she assumed he was staying with her, but then upon her leaving the Barn, she saw he had stayed back, leaving her in the Barn by herself, she would have been upset as well. Especially if she remembered everything. So, was he just hiding until he could enter the Barn again? If so, why come to Haven? Why not just stay in Portland, thereby forcing her to go back into the Barn? If he remembered everything, he would know that without a doubt, she would sacrifice herself for the good of the town – even if he didn’t know how large that sacrifice had become over the years.

At the thought of that, Audrey shuddered, and felt Nathan drawing her close to him.

“Are you ok?”

She looked over at him and nodded, knowing he didn’t believe her for a second. “We should go find him, Nathan. He pretty much called you out, and frankly, my thoughts are starting to get the better of me. I’d like to know what’s going on sooner, rather than later.”

“As always, you read my mind. Let’s go.”

Nathan stood up and offered his hand to Audrey to help her up as well. Then, hand in hand, they exited the room, nodding at various people as they wound their way through the house looking for James, searching for the son whose life they had missed out on, and who held the key to keeping their family together.


	22. Another Life

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Totally don’t own these characters, or this world. I just like to be a part of it.
> 
> Author’s Notes: Heads up – time shift again. 
> 
> I don’t say this nearly enough to you all, but thank you, thank you, thank you for all the wonderful reviews. I’m having a great time writing this, and it means so much to me that people are actually reading it and enjoying as well.

** Another Life **

  
“Parker. You look awful.”

Audrey looked up from the paperwork she couldn’t concentrate on to see Nathan standing in her office doorway with a smirk on his face. “Gee, thanks Nathan. Just what a girl always wants to hear.”

“I just got a call to check out a hit and run on the edge of town. I wanted to see if you’d like to tag along, but now that I’m looking at you, I think you need to just stay here. Or, actually, maybe you should come with me, and I’ll drop you off at home on the way.”

Audrey rolled her eyes, and stood up while shoving the paperwork she had in front of her back into her inbox. “Jeez Nathan, I’m fine. It’s probably just a cold or something. Or, lack of sleep since _someone_ kept me up most of the night.” The flush Audrey could see creep up Nathan’s neck instantly made her feel a little better, and when he rubbed the back of his neck and shot a quick glance around him to make sure no one heard what she said, she felt elated. When he sighed, she knew she had him, and was thankful for the hit and run. Maybe she just needed to get out of the office, and her body was just complaining about being cooped up all day.

After turning off her desk light and computer, Audrey grabbed her coat off the rack on her way out, and brushed by Nathan. “Come on, let’s go.”

As they drove through town, Audrey didn’t want to admit to Nathan how terrible she actually felt. She was pretty sure if she closed her eyelids for any longer than a blink, she’d be out. It felt like she hadn’t slept in a week, and while they did have an amorous night the night before, there was no way she should feel this awful today. It’s not like they hadn’t had similar nights before, they’d had countless actually, but normally she was revved and ready to go the next day. Maybe she really was coming down with something. Her whole body did seem to be extra heavy, and she really couldn’t decide if she was hot or cold. Maybe it was more than being cooped up in the office. Damn flu bugs.

“Here we are.”

Audrey jolted slightly at Nathan’s words, and realized she must have fallen asleep as they were driving. She lifted her head from the cool glass of the window and looked out at the scene in front of her as Nathan pulled to a stop. It didn’t look like anything too out of the ordinary. A small red hatchback sat pushed to the side of the intersection, and was dismantled from the hit it had taken on the front driver’s side quarter panel. “Well, someone’s going to get a new car today.” Audrey could see the owner pacing beside the car, frantically gesticulating as he yelled into his cellphone, and narrowed her eyes to try to pull the man into closer focus to see if she recognized him. Ever since she had been able to come out of the Barn unscathed, she had made it a priority to try to better remember people’s names. If she was going to be here awhile, it would be better if she knew who the hell she was talking to. So far, it wasn’t going as well as she hoped, but she was getting there. But as she flipped through her mental rolodex, she was pretty certain she had never met this person before.

Nathan shot Audrey a glance, and then climbed out of the Bronco, heading towards the scene. “Sir, are you ok?”

Audrey watched as Nathan walked towards the owner of the red car and figured he had it handled, so she started to wander around the area to see if she could see any clues as to the other car. Whoever it was, apparently had no qualms about leaving an accident behind, but couldn’t have gotten too far judging by the damage sustained by the victim’s car. The further she walked, the less she could hear the victim yelling at Nathan, which was ok by her. Whenever people yelled at Nathan, she always had an instinctual reaction to protect him, but knew that while on the job, protecting him wasn’t necessary, and if she did, she would have to hear about it when they got home. Sometimes, it was just better to let it go.

She looked up as she walked and made note of a couple of security cameras in the area, and gave a quick call to the station to make sure someone pulled the footage. Maybe they would get lucky and they would be able to pull a plate. She also sent a couple of junior officers on what would surely be a two day trip to all the collision shops in a 40 mile radius to talk to the owners to make sure they called in any kind of auto damage coming in that would be consistent with an accident such as this one. As she walked, she could feel herself starting to sweat, and debated taking off her jacket. But, figuring she had nowhere to put it, she kept it on, rationalizing that undoubtedly the second she took it off, she would be freezing again anyways. Being sick was not fun.

After a few more minutes of walking, Audrey rounded a corner, and saw a black sedan sitting parked at an odd angle. She could feel her skin tingle and knew instinctively something was off about this situation. She approached the car on full alert, and as she rounded towards the driver’s side, she could see some of the damage towards the front of the car, and could smell something hanging in the air that was definitely consistent with a car accident. Her guard faltered slightly though when she could see an occupant in the car, who was slumped over the steering wheel. No matter if the person was the assailant or not, in this moment, they were injured and obviously needed help. Audrey tentatively walked up to the car, and rapped on the window with her knuckle. “Sir, are you ok? Sir?” Audrey stood on her tiptoes so she could look deeper into the car, and everything happened so fast that even when she was questioned on it later, she couldn’t really explain why she didn’t react better. More than likely it was just a horrible combo of fatigue and surprise that caught her, but as she glanced down at the person’s lap, the door flew open, catching her face and body, and threw her to the ground.

As she laid on the ground, Audrey could feel the car’s occupant step over her and start to run. She tried to shake the blurriness out of her eyes so she could stand up to pursue, but the motion only made her dizzy. She tried to squint to at least see which way the assailant was running, but it could have been straight up towards the sky for all her direction was telling her at the moment. Instead, leaning over and retching seemed like the best idea.

With her stomach now empty, she crawled over to the curb so that she was at least out of the street, and took a few moments to gather herself, but jumped when she heard footsteps running in her direction. Her vision was so blurry she wouldn’t be able to protect herself if need be. It could be anyone advancing on her. She held up her hands in a mock defense, but knew deep down that she wouldn’t be able to defend herself against a butterfly at the moment.

“Jesus, Parker.” Nathan squatted down in front of Audrey and put his hands on her shoulders, trying to get her to look him in the eye. “What happened?”

Audrey blew out a breath when she heard Nathan’s voice and blinked a few times to try to get him to come into focus, but it just didn’t seem to be working. Must be the flu. Or, she was hit much harder than she thought she had been. Had she passed out a little when she was hit? She had gotten sick, hadn’t she? That was definitely a sign of a concussion. Maybe she had been hit harder than she first thought. “I found the other driver. He apparently knew he was in the wrong and would be hearing from the police, and unfortunately got the jump on me. I’ll be ok. I just need a minute before I get up.” Audrey sat for a moment and made to stand up, but as her vision swam again, she thought better about getting up. “Or, you know what? I think I’ll just lie down for a minute. He must have gotten me harder than I thought.” The concrete would be nice right now. Nice and cool. She was so warm, and the ground would cool her down.

“Audrey, I don’t think you should lie down. Can you get up? There’s an ambulance sitting at the accident scene, and they can check you out.” Nathan was desperately trying to keep the worry out of his voice, but it was difficult. He hadn’t noticed Audrey wander off when they first arrived on scene, but when he finished taking the victim’s statement, he had looked around, and she was nowhere to be seen. It had taken him a good 10 minutes to finally find her down a side street, and he had turned the corner just in time to see her crawling to the curb. His heart had dropped to his toes, and he ran as fast as he could to her. Seeing how pale she was, and how glassy her eyes were, didn’t help to alleviate any of his fears. He should have taken her home when he had the chance. Why he didn’t listen to his gut, he didn’t know. Actually, he did know. She had convinced him she was fine. She was always able to do that. And because of that, she was now lying in the street, instead of in their bed, and his heart felt like it was going to explode with worry.

“Um, yeah, I can do that.” Audrey tried to stand up, and was really only able to do so because Nathan was supporting about 90% of her body weight. “See? Totally good.” She looked up at him to smile and ease his fears, but the effort completely drained her of all energy, and she fainted dead away, only missing the ground because Nathan had scooped her up in his arms.

\----------------------------

It felt like there was cotton in her mouth. That was Audrey’s first thought when she came to. The second was that this was definitely not her and Nathan’s bed. Audrey licked her lips to try to get some sense of moisture, and cleared her throat.

“Jesus Christ, Parker. Stop scaring me like that.”

Audrey jumped at the sound of Nathan’s voice. She blinked a couple of times to focus her eyes, rolled her head to the side, and saw Nathan sitting in a chair beside her, while quickly taking in her surroundings. Yup, a hospital room. Great. Because she needed one more reason for Nathan to tell her to be more careful.

“Can I get some water?”

“Of course. I’ll be right back.”

Audrey watched Nathan walk out of the room, and felt her eyes close once again. She was so tired.

“Here you go.”

The sound of Nathan’s voice woke her from her quick nap, and she smiled up at him, silently thanking him as she took the glass from his hands. After taking a small sip and handing it back, she pushed herself up in the bed so she was sitting against her pillows, and could see she was hooked up to a couple of IV drips, and was definitely in a hospital gown. Dammit. This meant it would be an even longer stay than usual. But, with how tired she felt, she was almost ok with that. “What happened?” Her head and face was throbbing, and when she touched above her eye, pain exploded behind her eyes, instantly waking her from her sleepy state. “Ow, shit.” She looked over at Nathan as he took her hand, and could see his grimace.

“You took on a car door, and definitely didn’t win.”

Audrey closed her one eye as she tentatively probed her wound this time, and could tell there must have been bruising running from her forehead, all the way down to her chin. She must have looked amazing. Maybe this would win her bruise of the year at the station. “Oh yeah. I’m definitely going to make that son of a bitch pay.”

Nathan snorted under his breath. “Don’t worry, we already caught him, and he already had an unfortunate introduction to the bars of the jail cell courtesy of Smith. Word of your injury got around pretty quick.”

If her face didn’t hurt so much, she would have raised her eyebrow, but had to settle on shaking her head instead. Slowly though, because each time she moved her head, it felt like her brain was smashing into the side of her skull. Ok, no head movements for the time being. Next time, a thumbs up would have to suffice. “Remind me to buy Smith a decent bottle of Scotch.”

“Already on his desk.”

Audrey squeezed Nathan’s hand and smiled at him. As horrible as she felt, she was so happy he was there with her. But really, where else would she have expected him to be?

“So, you got him?”

“Audrey, he left his car and took off after slamming into you. It’s a small town. It wasn’t hard to run his plates and find him. A Mr. John Martin will be having a very expensive year this year. Not only will he be losing his license, but he will be having to pay some very large lawyer fees for assaulting an officer.”

Audrey sighed. Her equilibrium was quickly returning, and she could already feel herself getting antsy. “I bet. So, when can I get sprung from here? I hate this place.” She started looking around the room, for what, she didn’t know, but there had to be a clue there somewhere that she could take off fairly soon. Other than her face feeling about double its normal size and the pounding in her head, she actually felt pretty good. All the dizziness and blurred vision were gone. Must have been a flu bug like she originally thought, and whatever she was hooked up to was pumping her with enough fluids to flush anything out. Regardless of how she felt though, she just wanted to get out and go home. Hospitals were not a fun place to be, and she knew she would feel 100% better once she was in her pjs and her own bed. And with Nathan beside her, everything would be perfect.

“The doctor said you’ll have to stay in another day for observation.”

Her gaze settled on Nathan. “Huh? Why? I’ve been knocked out before. Wait, how long was I out for?” If she dug deep in her memory, she could faintly remember waking up in an ambulance, but that was about it. Maybe it was worse than she thought, because come to think of it, every time she had been knocked out, she had woken up only a few seconds or minutes later. This time, she had to have been out for a few hours. Maybe the drugs she was hooked up to kept her out longer? After being up for the few minutes, talking to Nathan, and drinking some water, she definitely didn’t feel tired anymore, so maybe she had been legitimately sleeping for a while.

Nathan could only shake his head, but couldn’t keep the tiny grin off his face. “Not that long. That’s not it. The doctor gave you a clean bill of health for your face. He said you might have a slight concussion, but not anything you haven’t dealt with before. Your head is surprisingly hard.” Even though she was hooked up to an IV, she moved surprisingly fast, and Nathan had to move quickly to avoid her swat at his head.

“Not funny.” Audrey crossed her arms and pouted. “So, fine, if it’s not that, then why do I have to stay? And why are you grinning like that?”

Nathan stood up, and uncrossed Audrey’s arms, taking one of her hands in each of his as he sat down on the bed beside her. “Because Audrey, you’re pregnant.”

She didn’t know if it was the low grade concussion, or if it was the shock of the situation, or if it was Nathan’s stupid grin, but she could only coherently come up with one word, and it definitely wasn’t one that seemed appropriate at the time, but it was what it was.

“Huh.”

\-------------------------------------

“This is ridiculous. Isn’t this some sort of workplace harassment or something? Can’t I sue for something like this?”

Stan shifted nervously in the doorway to Audrey’s office. She had clearly made him uncomfortable, but she couldn’t help it. She was six months pregnant, very visibly showing, and had therefore been relegated to desk duty by the chief of police – her husband. He had told her she wasn’t in any condition to be running around the streets of Haven keeping the order, so she should just stay back at the station and keep the order there. On one hand, she had been touched he was looking out for her, but on the other, she was pissed he got her in this situation and was now punishing her for it. Nothing was worse than sitting in the station while the officers took turns at coming up with what they thought was the worst Trouble that hadn’t been seen yet. While she appreciated the fact that the Troubles were so far gone people now felt comfortable enough to make fun of them, it didn’t negate the fact that real people had been afflicted with them at one time. She had lasted three weeks in the station already, and wasn’t too sure how she was going to survive another three months of these characters.

“Um, Audrey, you know what the Chief said…” Stan rubbed the back of his neck with his hand, and Audrey wondered if every officer in the station was subconsciously trying to copy Nathan.

“I know what Nathan said, but that doesn’t mean I have to listen to it.” Audrey started shifting her paperwork around on her desk so she could find the file she was looking for. “If I want to go out into the field, I’m going to go out into the field. I don’t need anyone to tell me what I can and cannot do.” Finding the file, Audrey grinned through her haze of annoyance, and stood up, studying the address on the front of the folder.

“But Audrey, it’s uh…it’s my job to keep you at the office today, and I really don’t want…”

The death glare Audrey shot Stan’s way made him stumble back a few steps, and gave her the opportunity to start crossing the room towards the door. “Stan, you don’t need to worry about Nathan, I’ll…hold on…” Audrey sprinted back to her desk, desperately grabbing for the waste bin, clutching it to her body as she retched everything she had into it. When she finally felt as though she could move, she put the bin under her desk, wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, and sat back down in her chair. She was so mortified, she couldn’t even look Stan in the eye. “You know, on second thought, maybe I’ll just stay here and get these files finished.”

“Are you o….”

Audrey put up her hand to stop Stan. She really didn’t want to have this conversation at all, and she could hear him turn on his heel and scurry out. At least he wouldn’t have to deal with Nathan now if she wasn’t at her desk when he got back from wherever he was. With a huge sigh, Audrey laid her head down on her desk, the blush on her cheeks slowly starting to drain away. “Dammit.”

\-----------------------------

  
As Nathan held the tiny girl in his arms, he couldn’t believe how miraculous she was. As soon as she was born, he immediately thought of the name Juliet, because he had always thought his and Audrey’s relationship mirrored that of Romeo and Juliet. So when this precious gift arrived, he couldn’t think of a better name for her. The middle name had been a little more difficult, since it’s usually reserved for a grandparent’s name, but since this little girl would be without grandparents, they had settled on Parker. It seemed appropriate.

People had been coming in and out of the room all evening as Audrey slept, all making sure they kept completely quiet so she could have her rest. They all knew Nathan would murder anyone who woke her up. Duke had promised a proper party at the Gull as soon as they were up for it – and another one once Audrey was able to drink again. He had taken an instant liking to Juliet, and Nathan knew deep down that his little girl would have a bond with the smuggler he would never understand – just like her mother.

And as he looked over at the love of his life, and back down to the love they had created, he couldn’t help but think about how he had missed out on the birth of his first child. They both had. He could only hope that one day his son would be able to meet his baby sister. A sigh escaped Nathan’s lips as he thought about James. How crazy their lives were.

He looked down at the little girl, and lightly touched the tip of her tiny nose, and sent up a silent prayer that not only did this creature exist, but his Trouble had gone away allowing him to feel her. He couldn’t imagine not being able to feel the soft skin of his daughter. Her eyes were so blue it took his breath away. He imagined her having long blonde curls like her mother, and he already knew he would have to be scaring off boys left and right as she got older. Good thing he could legally carry a weapon.

A slight rustling noise caught Nathan’s attention, and he glanced towards Audrey to make sure she was ok. His eyes locked onto hers, and he realized she had been watching him for a while. “How are you feeling?” He wasn’t sure why, but he kept his voice at almost a whisper.

“I feel like getting shot hurts less, but I’ll survive.” Audrey beckoned to her husband and daughter. “Come here. I want some company.”

Nathan tightened his grip on Juliet and stood up, crossing the few steps to Audrey’s bed, and carefully passed their daughter over to Audrey’s waiting arms. Audrey scooted over in the bed, and patted the open area. “You too. I want to feel both of you together.”

Nathan happily obliged, and carefully climbed in Audrey’s bed with her, putting an arm around the two loves of his life. Audrey snuggled in close, and the three of them drifted off into sleep for the first time as a family.

\---------------------------


	23. James

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Totally don’t own these characters, or this world. I just like to be a part of it.
> 
> Author’s Notes: Heads up – time shift again. 
> 
> You know those chapters that start out as a blank page for days, so you worry it’ll end up being really short, but then it grows into a tome? Yeah, that was this chapter.

** James **

  
Her heart felt like a jackhammer. It was rattling so quickly and heavily, she was mildly surprised her teeth weren’t chattering. She tried taking a few deep breaths to calm down, but it wasn’t working. How could it? How would anyone feel in this situation? Probably exactly the same way she was. It wasn’t every day that you found yourself walking through a strange house to find your older-than-you-son, who had reappeared suddenly after 10 years, looking like an old man.

For all intents and purposes, the man who was leading the meeting was seemingly not James. Everyone knew him as Karter, and he looked nothing like James – or his current persona, Cole. But, she knew better. Her motherly instincts kicked in, the second he walked in the room. She knew in her heart of hearts that this man was none other than her son, James. The question plaguing her however, was his appearance. Was he really aging at a rapid rate? Was that possible? Technically, he was born in the ‘50s, so that would put him in his 70s now. Had the age of his body caught up to his actual age? Did something malfunction in the Barn causing the aging to happen?

Even more troubling, the question she wished she could suppress in the deepest depths of her soul kept bubbling up. If James actually was aging to his true age, would it also happen to her? And as the thought finally clawed its way to the surface of her mind, Audrey could feel her blood run cold. Because if it did, she would die. Her real age had to be in the 200s at least. They never were able to fully figure it out. The thought stopped her in her tracks, and she could feel her arm lift up as Nathan kept walking, causing their linked fingers to stretch. With the pull, he stopped and looked back at her.

“Are you ok? What’s wrong?” Nathan walked back the step towards Audrey and looked down at her.

Audrey licked her lips and nodded. “Yes, just thinking.” She pulled her hand away from Nathan and brushed by him. “Come on, we need to find James.”

Nathan shook his head as Audrey walked by. Something was deeply troubling her, but as usual, she was holding it in. He would have to try to get her to talk about it once they were home. They had the place to themselves, because Duke had graciously taken Juliet for the night, and Peanut was next door at the Fleming’s.

As they walked through the cavernous house without finding James, Nathan finally put a hand on Audrey’s arm as she was about to ascend the stairs to the next floor, stopping her in her tracks. They were never going to find James. Who knew where he was, and how ridiculous was it for them to be knocking on doors. If James wanted to talk to them, he would come to them. He now knew they were there, so it was up to him.

“Audrey, wait.”

Audrey looked down at Nathan’s hand on her arm before looking up into his eyes. “Nathan, what are you doing?”

“Let’s go sit in the living room, have a drink, and wait for James. I feel ridiculous walking around the house looking for him when there are still all these people here. He knows we’re here. He’ll come find us.”

“But we need to talk to him.”

“That’s the other thing. We need to discuss what we’re going to talk to him about. What _is_ our plan, Audrey? We need to be on the same page with this, and we’ve both been running so hard lately, I’m not sure we are.”

Audrey looked deep into Nathan’s eyes, trying to see if she could see what he was thinking, and where he was going with this. He was right, they hadn’t discussed what they were going to do with James when they finally talked to him, and they never had finished their discussion from all those nights ago when the topic of protecting James had come up. As soon as it was mentioned, the tension in their bed had been palatable, but Nathan had pushed it aside, saying they would discuss it later, but they never did. Since that night, she had been running the discussion through her mind numerous times, and always came to the conclusion that Nathan wasn’t telling her something. And she was fairly certain the thing he wasn’t telling her was that even though his character had always been to protect those closest to him at all costs, he had changed over the years, and that change was telling him to protect her and Juliet, and no one else. Meaning, if all hell broke loose, she was pretty sure Nathan was willing to let James go to save her and Juliet.

And because her nature was to sacrifice herself for the good of others, she could never let that happen. Being a mother only amplified her natural instincts, and she would do anything to protect her babies – even if one happened to be older than her, meaning she could never let James go to save herself and Juliet. As a result, she and Nathan were at an impossible impasse, and neither had said a word as of yet.

She was almost dreading talking to Nathan more than she was talking to James – with James, she didn’t know what to expect, but with Nathan…with Nathan, she knew exactly what to expect, and it scared the hell out of her. A small piece of her wanted to just turn and leave this house, and go home - home, where the two of them could lay together in bed, skin against skin, and talk. Not here, not in this very public place. She knew that both of them had emotions that were very close to the surface, and could burst through at any moment. Anyone who knew them would say they were very passionate people, resulting in fiery arguments and mind-blowing sex. The people didn’t know about the sex, but they definitely knew about the arguments.

And so here, at this house, with their son somewhere in its depths, they were about to have a conversation about the future, and it would have to be quick and dirty, because their son could make his appearance at any time, and they needed to be ready when the moment arrived – whether it be five minutes from now, or two hours from now.

She let him pull her into the living room, and sat down as he grabbed a couple of bottles of beer from the bar area. As she watched Nathan pry open the tops, a tiny thought flitted through her head, wondering who was paying for all this liquor. In just the few hours they had been at the house, she had seen a lot of it consumed, and since there had been many meetings before this one, she could only guess at how much had been gone through.

When Nathan passed her the bottle, she smiled in gratitude, but dropped her eyes to the floor as she took a long pull. She didn’t want any beer, but the cold liquid felt good as she swallowed, and it undoubtedly would help her get through the next couple of conversations.

“Nathan…”

“Audrey…”

Audrey swept her eyes up to her husband. Of course they would talk at the same time, and ever the gentleman, he gestured for her to speak first. So, after another pull on her bottle, she took a deep breath, and let the words begin to tumble. “Nathan, I think we need to just see if James knows what’s going on. I’ve been thinking about this a lot, and I think the Barn dropped him off early because it couldn’t hold on to him as long as it held on to me. He’s only part of me…he’s part of you. And ultimately, if the Barn dropped him off, that means it’ll return to pick someone up, whether it be him…or me.”

Audrey held her hand up as she saw Nathan drawing in a breath so he could interrupt. “No, please, let me finish.” She watched as he closed his mouth, nodded, and then took a pull on his beer. He was needing the alcohol to steady himself as well, and she knew without a doubt he was waging an internal war that was undoubtedly very similar to the one going on within herself at the moment. “I don’t want to believe that either one of us will have to return to the Barn, but we both need to start preparing for that event, regardless of what it’ll be. I’m hoping we can talk to James and he’ll have all the answers, and we can live happily ever after, but you have to know that won’t happen, Nathan. You have to know deep down that one of us won’t be in Haven in a few weeks.”

Audrey could see anger flitting through Nathan’s eyes, so she reached across the distance between the two of them, and grasped his free hand in hers. “I am going to fight tooth and nail to try and stay, but we weren’t able to figure it out last time, and haven’t made a whole lot of headway since then. I’m not too sure what we can do in the next few weeks that we haven’t already done. I want to believe we can find something – especially since we’re a team this time, but I also have to be realistic, and reality is looking pretty bleak right now.”

Audrey took another pull on her beer, suddenly thankful for the cool liquid. Her throat felt impossibly dry, and was threatening to close. “I think, we need to talk to James, see if he’s learned anything we don’t know, and then take the time we have left to work with him to make sure we can end all of this. Also, I’d be interested in asking him why he’s chosen to stay away from us for so long, and I’m also interested in…this.” With her last words, Audrey sat back and looked around the room, sweeping her hand out to indicate everything around her. The one question she wanted to ask James the most, was why he had avoided them for so long. She no longer questioned if he remembered them or not – he clearly did based on his observations of them during the meeting – but it was bothering her why he was avoiding them. All evening, she kept having the nagging thought that it almost felt like he had originally been planning to avoid them entirely - to tip her hand - so she would go in the Barn, and he could stay. But if that had been his plan, what caused him to come seek them?

“Are you done?”

Nathan’s words pulled Audrey out of her thoughts. She must have been silent for a while, so she nodded.

“I agree we need to see if James has learned anything we don’t already know, and we definitely need to ask him why he has chosen to stay away for so long, especially since – I’m sure you’ll agree – he remembers us. I’m still convinced it’s because he wasn’t sure what we would do once we met up with him, but I’m interested as to why he chose to eventually come back to Haven. He could have stayed in the wind, and had to have known you would sacrifice yourself, thereby allowing him to stay.”

Audrey pulled in a sharp intake of air. Nathan had voiced her fear, and when she answered, her voice was barely audible. “I’ve thought that too.”

“And we need to confront him on that, because I’m not ok with that.”

Audrey watched as Nathan drained his beer. He was definitely trying to keep his emotions in check. They were still avoiding the inevitable though – what were they going to do when the Barn came back and they had no more answers than they do now? Someone was going to have to go into the Barn. But, that topic could wait. As much as she was tempted to keep beating that drum, it realistically wasn’t going to get them anywhere at this point. It would only end in a fight, and she didn’t have the energy for a fight right now. She needed her energy to talk to her son, so the topic would have to wait, once again. “So, we’re on the same page of what to say to him tonight?”

Nathan looked up at Audrey and nodded. “I think, for once, on this topic, we are.”

The two of them held each other’s gaze for what seemed like an eternity, both internally flying through all of the possible outcomes of not only this evening, but the next few weeks. Their lives were going to change, and at this point, it was only a question of how drastically.

“I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”

The male voice coming from the doorway of the room startled Audrey out of her thoughts. She turned her head to see James standing in the doorway – and it was definitely James. Gone were the long robe, cane and dark glasses, and back was his dark hair. He looked exactly as he did in his mugshot, and Audrey knew that Nathan’s instincts were once again, 100% correct. The old man look was purely for show. But if it was for show, wasn’t he blowing his cover by standing here like this? Audrey quickly swept the room, and looked back at James as he spoke.

“Don’t worry, no one else is here. They’ve all either left, or have turned in for the night.”

And with that, motherly instincts once again took hold, and Audrey stood up to hug James, but was stopped in her tracks when James held up a hand, and took a tiny step back. She could feel hurt lance through her, and so she hugged herself instead, feeling only slightly mollified when she felt Nathan’s hand land at the small of her back, giving her some comfort. “James.”

James merely nodded, and seemed to make no move to talk, and Audrey could feel the tension start to rise in the room. He apparently was waiting for either she or Nathan to speak first, so she took in a deep breath to calm her nerves, thankful for the beer she had finished. God, how was she going to start? What do you say? “How are you?”

James snorted and shook his head. “Really, Audrey? That’s all you can think of to say to me? After you convinced me you cared about me, and then left me in the Barn by myself for years, the first thing you say to me is, how are you?”

The jackhammer once again took over where her heart normally was, and Audrey could feel her blood running cold.

Nathan however, could feel his blood boiling. James had already confirmed his suspicions that James felt he was abandoned, but he wouldn’t let him railroad Audrey.  His voice came out like a growl, and he could feel Audrey tense beneath his hand. “James…”

James locked eyes with Nathan, and held up his hands in a defensive pose, effectively halting Nathan’s train of thought. Nathan watched as James moved by he and Audrey towards the bar area, and calmly poured himself a drink, staying quiet until he had taken a sip.

“James, I’m sorry.”

Audrey watched as James brought his eyes to hers. “Really? For what?”

What was she sorry for? There was so much to be sorry for when it came to James. She missed his birth, she missed out on him growing up, she watched him die, only to put him in a Barn to keep him safe. She had to tell him his wife was a murderer, and then had to once again put him in a Barn to keep him safe. She was only there for him in times of despair, and never in times of joy, and once again, here they were, meeting during a time of despair, because she knew he knew there was only two realistic outcomes of this situation – either she was going back in the Barn, or he was.

“For everything.”

James took another swig of his drink, draining his glass. “How could you abandon me? How could you abandon me again?”

She knew it was coming, but the stab of guilt nearly knocked her off her feet. What choice had she had? She was never given a choice when it came to James, because if she had, he would have been with her always. But instead, she was always forced into impossible choices. As Sarah, she was forced to give him away. As Lucy, she was forced to save him in the Barn, and as Audrey, she once again was forced to save him in the Barn. But Audrey had stayed, whereas Sarah and Lucy had left. So, had she truly abandoned him this last time? God, she hoped not.

She took a tentative step in his direction, feeling slightly better when he allowed the decrease in distance between the two. “James, I didn’t abandon you. I’m not sure what happened.”

Fire danced behind his eyes again. “You don’t know? How could you not know? How are you so ignorant?  The Barn only takes people who want to go. You didn’t want to go, so it didn’t take you. It took me. It took me because I wanted to get away from Arla. I wanted to get away from what was going on. So it took me, and not you. You left me in the Barn, and continued on with your life as if nothing happened.”

What? What was he talking about? True, as time went on she thought less and less about James, but he was still always on her mind. How could he not? He was her child. But what he was saying about the Barn made sense. It echoed thoughts she had had throughout the years as to why the Barn took him and not her.  “James, I never continued as if nothing happened.”

“Don’t give me that crap. I’ve been here long enough to know what you’ve been up to. You’ve managed to carve out a very nice life for yourself here – a life I could have had. You’re married, have the job you enjoy, and have a wonderful daughter.”

Audrey could feel Nathan start to advance at mention of Juliet, but she held him back, ensuring James would keep talking.

“Did you have her to replace me?”

“James, we had her because we love each other, which, is also why you’re here. Please know, I wish nothing more than to have had the opportunity to watch you grow up, but unfortunately it didn’t happen. Juliet in no way replaces you. She just adds another piece to our family – a family that also includes you.”

James turned away from her to pour himself another drink. The dark amber liquid sloshed in his glass, and Audrey could hear the pops from the ice cracking as it hit the warmer liquor. Her son was hurting, and all she wanted to do was hold him close, and rock away his demons. It felt like only yesterday she was cradling him on the floor of the Barn, but so much had happened since then.

“I was a mess when I found myself outside the Barn, you know. I woke up in Portland, and immediately started keeping my eye on Haven. I hoped that maybe since I came back looking different, something got messed up with this whole…” James waved his hand around while looking up at the ceiling. “…whatever this is, and I could just start living my life. A normal life. Away from Haven, and everything having to do with it.”

Audrey could feel a pang of hurt in her heart, but said nothing.

“But then I saw the Troubles were returning, and I knew. I knew that meant the Barn would come back, and I knew that meant you were starting to look for me. So I started drinking. I could escape from everything when I was drunk. But I got out of hand one day and was arrested, and as soon as I woke up in the drunk tank, I knew my cover was busted. I knew you would be looking for me. So I went underground. I could have stayed there forever, and frankly, that was my plan. I was so mad at you – at both of you – that I knew by staying hidden, you would be forced to go into the Barn to save the town. You always put everyone ahead of yourself. But something was compelling me to keep tabs on what was going on in Haven, and so I started reading up on what had happened while I was gone. That’s when I saw the birth announcement. I saw I had a baby sister, and something inside of me told me I couldn’t be so selfish to force you back into the Barn, because there was someone who was now dependent on you. I may not have had my real parents growing up, but I had parents, and I couldn’t imagine depriving a child that experience just because I was hurting.

But I didn’t know what you were planning on doing. I sure as hell had, and have, no plans on going back into that Barn, so I stayed low when I came into town. I wanted to meet her, and see what she was like, and damned if I didn’t run into her the second I came into town. It was like fate. It was like we were meant to meet each other. But as soon as I was in this town, I just had this feeling I had to help people. I found this house out here, and did my research. Found out it was owned by a Troubled person. Thankfully, Lucy taught me how to deal with the Troubles, and it was one that was easy to talk down. He was so grateful, he let me use the house for our meetings, and Karter was born. I knew if I stayed as James, you would find me instantly, and I wasn’t ready to be found. I don’t think I’m really ready now, but I knew eventually someone would have tipped you off. I’m actually a little surprised it took this long, to be honest.”

Audrey had to sit down. Her legs just didn’t feel like they could support her any longer. “So what now?”

“Now? Now, you should go home. It’s late, and I need to think things through.”

Nathan could feel himself tense at James’ words. On one hand, he wanted to leave so he could collect his thoughts, and bury himself in his wife, but on the other hand, he was worried that if he left, James would run - especially after his admission of planning to let Audrey go in the Barn. Who’s to say after talking to Nathan and Audrey he wouldn’t decide to do just that?

But when James stood up, Nathan knew that he and Audrey were being dismissed. They wouldn’t be able to stay, no matter what they did. And besides, now he knew James’ game. He would have the entire police force keeping an eye on him. James wouldn’t be able to sneeze without someone alerting Nathan about it.

Nathan stood, seeing out of the corner of his eye, Audrey doing the same. And then, as always, she managed to surprise him. She stepped forward around the bar, and pulled James into a fierce hug – hugging him as if this was the first and last time she may see him. Nathan could feel himself tense, waiting to see James’ reaction, because he knew if James pulled away, his wife would be crushed. She was looking for some kind of hope tonight, and so far, that hope was very muted. But perhaps if James gave in to his real mother, just like he had almost a decade ago, maybe, just maybe that hope could start to bloom. And when James tentatively put his arms around his mother, Nathan let out a breath. Hope might just be starting to bloom.

But as they walked out of the house, and drove silently home, Nathan could feel his tentative grasp on hope starting to slip away. Audrey was hurting, and there was nothing he could do about it. He knew she was terrified James could run at any time, and she would have to go into the Barn to save the town and those she loved. But even if James didn’t run, and he and Audrey couldn’t figure out how to stop the cycle of the Barn, the only thing that would save the town would be James sacrificing himself. And with that thought, Nathan tightened his grip on the steering wheel. Why was his life so complicated? All he wanted was a simple life with his family, and once again, he was finding himself faced with impossible choices. He would die before allowing anything to happen to his family, but he also knew that him dying would hurt his family just as much. Yes, that tentative grasp on hope had fully evaporated. The future was once again bleak, and all he wanted was to get home, wrap Audrey up in his arms, and lose himself in her, if even for a few hours. He needed those few hours, and he was sure she did as well.

\----------------------

Audrey placed her palms against the cool tiles of the shower stall, bowed her head down under the steady stream of water, and let the sobs she had been holding in all evening finally escape. Tears mixed with the shower water, falling anonymously on the floor. Why did her life have to be so damn complicated? Why couldn’t it be simple? Why couldn’t she have just been an orphan who ended up in the FBI, who ended up in a town where she met the love of her life, who she then settled down with and had a family? She knew why. If her life had been normal, she never would have found herself here. The other Audrey Parker – the _real_ Audrey Parker was never sent on a case to find a fugitive in Haven. No, she was still in Boston, as Audrey would have been. If not for the craziness of her life, she never would have ended up in Haven, and never would have met Nathan, and therefore would never have had Juliet.

But with all the good that has come from her complicated life, even more bad seems to have come, and no matter what she did, she couldn’t seem to shake it. The past 10 years had been quiet – too quiet, and Audrey quietly admonished herself for becoming so laxidasical. Maybe if she had kept pushing in her research, she would have been better prepared for this day. She had ten years to figure out the mysteries of her life, but instead of researching, she lived her life. She got married, she went on a honeymoon. She bought a dog, and had a child. She got to celebrate her child’s first bath, first tooth, first year, first day of school – first everything. So many firsts, and there’s no way she wanted to give up those memories.

As sobs wracked her body, Audrey could feel the utter exhaustion of the night take hold, and wasn’t sure if she would be able to support herself any longer when a pair of strong arms snaked around her middle and pulled her back into an equally strong chest.

“Audrey.”

Her name tumbled from his lips that were pressed to her ear. His embrace was exactly what she needed right now, and in his arms, she instantly felt stronger. She leaned her head against his chest, closing her eyes and allowed herself to just be held for a few moments. When she felt Nathan press a kiss to her head, she sighed.

“Let’s get you out of here and into bed.”

All she could do was nod, and watched with disinterest as Nathan reached around her to turn off the water. She stood waiting for him as he stepped out, and came back in with a towel he wrapped around her, and rubbed her until she was dry.

She shuffled through the room, stopping at the dresser to grab one of Nathan’s t-shirts to wear, and crawled into bed. As Nathan walked around the room, she watched him. He was always there for her – he always had been. From the very first moment she entered Haven, he was always there to save her, and tonight, she needed him to save her again – save her from her own depressing thoughts.

So as he stood at the dresser to pull out his own clothes for bed, she stood up and padded up behind him. And when he turned, she reached up to frame his face with her hands, and pulled his lips down to her own. Immediately, she felt his arms snake around her, with one hand tangling in her hair, and one hand on her lower back, pulling her hips towards his.

Desire started to flood thick and strong through her, and Audrey soon found herself lost in Nathan’s embrace – exactly where she wanted to lose herself.

“I need you right now, Audrey.”

Audrey licked her lips, and nodded. “I need you too.”

As Nathan ran his hands up under her shirt, Audrey shivered under his touch, and was finally able to forget about the world she lived in, and all the chaos it was currently bringing.

 

 


	24. A Series of Firsts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Totally don’t own these characters, or this world. I just like to be a part of it.
> 
> Author’s Notes: Heads up – time shift again. 
> 
> Sorry about the lag in update on this one, but I felt like we all needed some good moments, and I wanted to make sure I got these right.
> 
> Here’s the promised Tuesday update!

** A Series of Firsts **

 “You’re not going to break her, Nathan.”

Nathan shot Audrey a side eye glare. “Leave me alone Parker, I’m concentrating.” His eyes narrowed even more when he heard Audrey trying to smother a giggle. He wasn’t worried about breaking Juliet – he was worried about drowning her. Her umbilical cord stump had finally fallen off and healed, so it was time to give her her first bath, and he was terrified. He wanted to swear that Audrey was worried too, but she could always hide her fear, so really, who knew.

He had already filled the small tub with a few inches of water, and measured the temperature so it was a perfect 90 degrees. All her supplies were gathered, and in easy reach. Admittedly, the space heater he had running just outside the door blowing into the bathroom may have been going a touch too far, but he wanted to make sure there was no way she would catch a cold.

Everything was as it should be, so it was now or never. He slowly slipped Juliet into the tub feet first, carefully supporting her neck and head with one hand. She didn’t cry out, so Nathan breathed out a small sigh of relief. Step one was officially done and survived. “Ok, you pour the water on her, and I’ll wash her with the soap.”

“Oh, you’re actually going to let me participate in this milestone? I was a little worried you might be trying to take over.”

Nathan did his best to ignore his wife, but knew she was only teasing. He knew he was going a little overboard, but he was a first time parent, and wanted to make sure he was doing everything right. God forbid he do something wrong that would hurt Juliet. That would crush him. So instead, he just looked up at Audrey as she kneeled beside him, and handed her the cup of water.

Oh so carefully, he washed his daughter top to bottom, front and back, and cleaned her eyes and face. He dabbed at the dried mucus that had collected in the corners of her nose, so that he could easily wipe it off. Once he finished an area, Audrey would pour a cup full of water over the same area to wash the soap away.

“Ok, daddy. I think you successfully washed our daughter.”

Nathan could feel his heart start to beat a little faster when he realized Audrey was right, but there were still a few steps left. Namely, lifting Juliet out without dropping her, now that she was all wet. And of course, she was starting to squirm. “Get the towel ready.” Carefully, oh so carefully, he lifted Juliet out of the tub, making sure to support her neck and head, and slipped another hand under her bottom, wrapping his long fingers around her thigh so she wouldn’t slip. Audrey draped a towel over her, and Nathan finally allowed his little girl to leave his arms as her mommy carefully dried her off while carrying her to her changing table.

“Ok, baby girl. Let’s get you in a diaper and off to bed.”

Nathan leaned against the doorframe as he watched his two girls. They had done it, and he hadn’t killed his daughter. Maybe he could make this father thing work.

\---------------

 “I’m pretty sure I’m going to pass out from exhaustion. Either that, or an anxiety attack.”

Audrey looked over to Nathan through her own blurry eyes, and wanted to agree with him, but she was so tired and angry, she held her tongue. Anything she said to him at this point would come out biting, and it wasn’t his fault she was feeling this way, it was the fault of the little bundle of a human she was currently bouncing in her arms - the little bundle that was currently screaming at the top of her lungs. The very same bundle of a human who had been screaming at the top of her lungs for the past few days, with little to no reprieve. At least Nathan had been able to get out today for a few hours to work before Audrey had had a meltdown, and called him to come home. He couldn’t do anything, but at least he would be there to suffer with her. If she had to hear screams all day, he would have to as well.

It wasn’t really Juliet’s fault either – it was the tooth that was refusing to break through – and neither Audrey nor Nathan knew what to do. It was agony to witness their child be in pain.

Nathan looked down at his phone when it started to ring. “Thank Christ, it’s the doctor. I’ll step outside so I can hear him.”

Audrey narrowed her eyes at Nathan’s ability to once again escape from the screams, but at least now they would be able to get some answers. She kept up her pacing around the house, bouncing Juliet in her arms as she walked. As she did, she looked down and noticed the amber bracelet Duke had bought Juliet was once again missing. He swore up and down that research proved the amber would help with teething, and had therefore bought it for Juliet, but when she kept pulling it off, the amber wasn’t doing anything.

“Hey, baby girl. Did you want a cool cloth to chew on? Maybe that will help.” Audrey moved towards the fridge where she put a few washcloths in to cool down. She pulled one out, and stuck a small corner in Juliet’s mouth, rubbing her gums with it. The coolness seemed to work, and Juliet started to calm down, eventually taking the cloth from Audrey, and working it between her gums.

Audrey blew out a breath and sent up a silent thanks. If only she had thought of doing this earlier. The cloth was also absorbing some of the drool coming out of Juliet’s mouth, which was a welcome relief.

As she continued to bounce Juliet around, Nathan finally came in from outside.

“Oh, you got her stop!”

“No thanks to you.”

Nathan pulled back at Audrey’s words, but forged ahead, knowing she meant nothing by them. “Ok, so the doctor said she shouldn’t be crying this much, so we can give her some children’s Tylenol. That should calm her down until the tooth breaks through.”

Audrey sighed as Nathan moved towards the back of the house to gather the medicine. Being a parent was at times no fun at all, but as she looked down at the drool covered bundle in her arms, who was now grinning up at her, she knew there was nothing she would rather be doing right now.

\----------------

 “That was definitely a word. She definitely said Duke.”

“Duke, there is no way your name is going to be her first word. Her first word is going to be Dada.”

“You both are wrong. Clearly, her first word is going to be Mama. Isn’t that right Juliet? Mama.”

Nathan knew the grin plastered on his face was completely dopey looking, but he didn’t care. He was so proud of his little girl, and watching Audrey tickle Juliet’s face with the tip of her finger was an amazing sight. It seemed like only yesterday she was being welcomed into the world, but here she was now already trying to talk. And as he studied her as Audrey bounced her on her lap, he knew that once Juliet started talking, she was never going to stop. She was a clone of her mother. Her eyes were an amazing shade of blue, and already her hair was starting to grow in big, blonde curls. She was stubborn just like her mom, so Nathan knew without a doubt, she would be a chatterbox just like Audrey. And he wouldn’t have it any other way.

And right now, she was having the time of her life. They were in the Grey Gull enjoying dinner, and she was having a blast smiling and waving at everyone who walked by. Everyone was enamored with Juliet, and it made Nathan’s heart swell in his chest. Most people were stopping by to ask her about her headphones she was currently wearing, care of Duke.

Nathan watched as Duke reached out to take Juliet in his lap so Audrey could eat. Ever since Juliet was born, he was looking out for her as if she were his own child. Even now, when they were in the Gull, he insisted she wear the baby headphones he had found god knows where, which he said were necessary to protect her ears from the chaos of the building. Nathan had originally waved off the idea, but as a couple of inebriated guests unexpectedly cheered about something, he could tell the headphones were a good idea. There were times he came home from the Gull with his ears ringing, so any extra protection he could give Juliet was for the best.

“When do you think she’ll start talking?”

Nathan looked over to Audrey, who had a mouth full of food, so he answered Duke’s question. “Any day now. There have been a few times when I think she said an actual word, but I’m not sure.”

Duke looked back down to the little girl and stuck a finger in her belly to tickle her. “Can you say Uncle Duke, Juliet? Say Uncle Duke.”

Juliet responded by sticking her tongue between her lips and blowing, causing spit to fly everywhere.

Duke pulled back to try to avoid the flying spittle, but only got so far, and laughed as he wiped his face with his sleeve. “Ok, not Uncle Duke. How about boat? Can you say boat?”

Nathan snorted and stood up. “I’ll go grab you a towel. Parker, you want another beer?”

Audrey nodded her head as she swallowed. “Yes, please.” She turned to Duke as Nathan walked away. “I do have to say, it’s so nice to be able to drink again. While I loved breastfeeding her, there are just some things you really miss.”

“I get that.” Duke reached out to adjust Juliet’s headphones and then looked up at Audrey. “How’s everything going?”

Before answering, Audrey paused. It was so rare for her to have a normal, adult conversation lately that it took her a moment to collect her thoughts. “Good. I think I’m finally getting the hang of being a mom. Nathan has been my lifesaver though. Thank god he’s a baby whisperer, otherwise I don’t think I’d still be here right now. I know it creeped me out the first time I saw him with a baby, but who knew I’d be able to take advantage of that skill.”

“How’s work going?”

“Nathan still hasn’t let me go back to full time work, which is annoying, so I’m still only working from home, but, and I’ll never admit this to him, but even that exhausts me while looking after her at the same time. I can’t even imagine being in the office all day.”

“Well, good thing the Troubles are gone then, because I’m betting that means most of your work can be done at home anyways.”

“Exactly.”

“Parker.”

At Nathan’s voice, both Audrey and Duke stopped their conversation and looked up. Nathan knew without a doubt they had been talking about him, but their close relationship no longer bothered him. Duke now seemed to be a brother to both he and Audrey, and nothing more. He passed Audrey her beer, and then sat down impossibly close to her in the booth, draping his arm across her shoulders so he could toy with her hair. Even though he had his sense of touch back, no feeling in the world was better than the feel of Audrey.

The three adults sat back and quietly watched Juliet as she wildly looked around at all the colors and people in the room. It was such a peaceful moment, and they all snorted when Juliet started babbling in her own language.

“Yup, Parker, she’s definitely your clone.”

Audrey elbowed Nathan in the ribs, but couldn’t help her smile.

“Park!”

Audrey’s laughing stopped when Juliet’s babbling turned into a word. “Wait, did she just say…”

Nathan leaned in close to his daughter. “Juliet, what did you say?”

“Park!”

Duke couldn’t help but laugh. “Really you guys? That’s your daughter’s first word? Her dad’s nickname for her mom?”

“Park!”

Audrey had to bite her lip to stop herself from laughing. Of all things for Juliet to pick up on for her first word. Nathan however, couldn’t be happier.

\----------------

 “Nathan, this is ridiculous. She’s never going to remember this.”

“Are you kidding me? Look at her! She can’t take her eyes off the tree.”

Audrey looked over at Juliet, who was holding onto the coffee table to help balance herself on her two chubby legs. She wasn’t walking yet, but with the way she kept standing, it was inevitable. And Audrey had to admit, Juliet was enthralled. She was gaping at the huge tree Nathan had drug home, and had just finished setting up. It did take up the majority of the room, so that could be the reason for Juliet’s enthrallment, but never the less, it was there.

“She’s going to remember this forever.”

Nathan continued busying himself with hanging the lights, before walking over to bring Juliet closer to the tree. He patiently held her, and helped her hang various ornaments on the tree. Audrey walked over and started pulling various pieces out of boxes to hang them up. As she did, she sat back and watched her husband. She always knew he was a baby whisperer, but as he held their daughter and softly explained to her what each ornament was, she couldn’t believe how lucky she was for him to be her baby whisperer. And as he lifted Juliet up so she could try to hang an ornament on a higher branch, Audrey could see the muscles in Nathan’s arms ripple. She started chewing on her thumbnail as her mind started to wander about his other muscles, and how good those muscles felt to touch. They were even better when they were holding her up.

“Enjoying the view?”

Audrey could feel her face heat up as she realized Nathan had caught her staring. But, he was her husband. She was allowed to stare as much as she wanted. So, she grinned and moved towards him, lifting her lips up to give him a small kiss. “Always.”

Nathan grinned, and then turned his attention back to their daughter, while the three of them slowly decorated the tree. Juliet began to tire, so Audrey took her from Nathan’s arms, and sat with her on the couch as Nathan continued.

As a Christmas song played softly in the background, Nathan put the finishing touches on the tree, and ambled over to where Audrey was sitting on the sofa watching him, with Juliet asleep on her chest. He sat down beside his two girls, wrapping his arm around Audrey’s shoulders so he could pull her closer to him. They leaned their heads against each other and just stared at the tree. Juliet’s soft breathing could be heard, and Nathan could feel his heart swell. He and Audrey had already spent a few Christmas’ together, but this was the first they were spending as a family of three, and it was everything he ever wanted.

“I can’t wait for Juliet to open her presents.”

Audrey grinned and looked over at her husband. “Nathan, she’ll probably end up playing with the boxes more than the actual toys.”

Nathan shook his head. “No, she’s way too smart for that. She’ll get it, and I can’t wait.” He paused and then abruptly stood up. “Stay here, I’ll be right back.”

Audrey snorted, because really, where was she going to go? She had a small child lying on her chest, effectively pinning her to the sofa, and she was afraid if she got up for any reason, Juliet was going to wake up, and the peace and quiet right now was too precious to give up. Taking advantage of her sleeping girl, Audrey dragged her finger along Juliet’s bare feet, reveling in the softness of her skin. She then put her finger up to Juliet’s tiny fist, and grinned as Juliet’s fingers wrapped around her own. Even in sleep she knew who her mama was, and it made Audrey’s heart soar.

When she heard movement near the entrance to the room, Audrey looked up and saw Nathan standing there watching them. “What?”

He shook his head and smiled. “Nothing. Just thinking.” Nathan moved through the room, sitting down next to Audrey, and handed her a small, wrapped box.

“What’s this?”

“An early Christmas present. Open it.”

Audrey looked up at Nathan, and took the small box from his hands. Reaching around Juliet, she slowly and quietly tore open the wrapped present. Putting aside the paper, she opened the box in front of her, and after digging through the tissue paper stuffed inside, she found a delicate Christmas ornament in the shape of a sun. On it, was inscribed the words, ‘Baby’s First Christmas’ with the date. Touched by the sentiment behind the gift, Audrey was also confused. “Nathan, this is beautiful. But, a sun?”

“’It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.’ It’s one of my favorite lines from Romeo and Juliet.”

Of course. Audrey closed her eyes and reveled in the moment before opening them to look deep into her husband’s eyes. “Oh, Nathan. When did you become so sentimental?”

Nathan leaned in close to Audrey, and softly touched his lips to hers. “The moment I met you.”

Audrey was pretty sure her heart swelled, and she could feel tears pricking at her eyes. Her hormones were still a little wacky, but even if they weren’t, the words this man said to her never ceased to amaze her. And it floored her that she was the only person who was able to see him as his true self. He kept this amazingness for her, and she loved it. “I love you.”

“Merry Christmas, Parker.”

At the sound of her nickname, Audrey snorted and grinned. “Merry Christmas, Nathan.”

\----------------

 “Come on sweetheart, come to daddy. You can do it.”

Audrey quickly glanced up at Nathan who was sitting a few feet away from her before turning her attention back to Juliet. Juliet was standing in front of her, her arms held above her head, fingers gripping Audrey’s hands as she teetered side to side. For the past few days, she had been adamant about wanting to walk on her own. She picked up walking while holding onto something without any problem at all, but on her own was another matter. It was like she just couldn’t quite get the balance down, but Audrey had caught her a few times trying to tentatively take a step.

So tonight, after dinner was cleaned up, they all sat in the living room, with her and Nathan speaking words of encouragement to hopefully get her confidence up. “Go on, baby girl. Daddy is right there. You can do it.”

Nathan reached his arms out so Juliet really only would have to take a step or two to make it to him.

After a few more teeters to each side, Audrey could feel Juliet’s grasp on her fingers lighten, and then she was moving forward. She could feel her heart soar and tighten at the same time. She was walking! Audrey held her arms out, terrified of Juliet falling before making it to her father, but she was fine. Juliet took two hesitant steps, and then another, and then she was being scooped up into Nathan’s arms, and Audrey was sure her body was going to explode from the emotions swirling around in her. Her baby girl was walking! She took her first steps and it was between her parents. What an amazing feeling, and she knew she would cherish this moment forever.

“She did it! She did it, Audrey!”

“I see, daddy! Good job, baby girl!”

Juliet turned in her father’s arms to grin at her mother, and Audrey held out her arms in hopes her baby girl would walk back. Nathan twisted Juliet and put her back on the ground so she was once again facing her mother. “Do you want to walk to mommy, Juliet? You can do it!”

And sure enough, now that the first terrifying steps had been completed, Juliet moved without abandon towards her mother, grinning and squealing the entire way before dissolving into giggles when she was swept up in her mother’s arms.

“Can you walk back to daddy, Juliet? Walk back to daddy!”

Audrey couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped her lips. Sometimes hearing Nathan interact with Juliet transported her back to the first time she saw Nathan with a baby. He just seemed to turn into another person completely, and she wouldn’t have it any other way. So, she set Juliet down on her feet again, turning her to face her daddy, and let her move towards him. As soon as Juliet made it, she collapsed in Nathan’s lap, looked up at him, and let out an enormous yawn, which immediately transferred to Nathan. Stifling another chuckle, Audrey stood up. “Looks like someone is tuckered out from all this walking. How about I get everything ready for bedtime, Juliet?”

Nathan looked down at his daughter’s increasingly sleepy eyes. “I think that’s a good idea, mommy. I’ll bring her in in a moment.” He watched as Audrey nodded and turned towards Juliet’s room. “Come on, baby girl. Let’s sit for a moment while mommy is getting everything ready.” Nathan gathered Juliet into his arms, and moved towards the couch, placing her on his chest, and rubbing her back as she started to drift. He was elated. His baby girl had taken her first few steps, and they were towards him. For so long, his life had been empty – literally devoid of feeling, but now here he was, enveloped in feeling – both physically, and emotionally. It was amazing.

“Ok, baby girl, are you rea….” Audrey stopped mid-sentence as she walked back into the main room, and quickly turned to go back and get her phone. Quietly walking back into the room, she moved towards the couch so she could capture the moment. There, sleeping on the couch, was her beautiful husband, with their amazing daughter draped across his chest, breathing in perfect sync with her daddy. After snapping a few pictures, and making sure she had the best picture, Audrey sat on the floor and just watched them for a few minutes. Who knew when she almost plunged over a cliff upon arriving to Haven, that the man who saved her would one day be asleep on her couch, cradling their daughter. It was amazing where life could take you.

\----------------

“This is going to be amazing.”

“Duke, you really didn’t have to do this.”

“Are you kidding me? It’s the Bug’s first birthday. Of course I had to do this!”

Audrey looked around the fully decorated Grey Gull, which had been transformed from a local bar, to a child’s birthday zone. There were colorful banners and balloons everywhere, and tons of pictures of various bugs. She wasn’t sure where Duke had picked up the nickname for her daughter, but for some reason, it was the sweetest thing ever, so she didn’t even mind that Juliet’s first birthday had pictures of caterpillars mixed in with the more mundane butterflies. Well, as mundane as a butterfly could get in Haven. Audrey involuntarily shuddered at the memory, but pushed it aside. These were just pictures, and the Troubles were gone.

“Larry, you need to come back later. I told you last night I wasn’t going to be serving alcohol this afternoon.”

Duke’s voice brought Audrey out of her thoughts, and she looked up to see one of the town’s more notorious drunks dejectedly walking away. As he did, she realized how much money Duke was probably losing by not having the place open for business this afternoon. “Are you sure Nathan and I can’t pay you for all of this?”

Duke waved his hand in the air. “Nonsense. This is for Bug. Isn’t that right, Bug?”

Juliet squealed with delight as Duke reached out to take her from Audrey, and Audrey could hear her giggling like a loon as Duke walked her around the room, showing her everything he had set up for her. As he did, more and more people started showing up, and Audrey couldn’t believe how many friends she and Nathan had in town. If she was being honest with herself, she knew most of them were more Nathan’s friends than hers, but it still made her feel good they would take time out of their day to come celebrate Juliet’s birthday.

And as a pair of strong arms snaked around her stomach, pulling her into an even stronger chest, she leaned back and sighed, feeling her blood quicken as Nathan’s light scruff brushed against her neck.

“This is pretty amazing what Duke did, isn’t it?”

Audrey nodded. “He’s so good with her. I have such absolute trust in him with her. I just know he would give his life for her, and do anything to protect her.”

As the party really started to get going, Audrey and Nathan circled through all of their friends, each one keeping an eye on their baby girl, who was being passed from person to person, and she was clearly enjoying all the attention.

Soon, it was time for cake, and Juliet was placed in the position of honor. With great flourish, Duke came out of the kitchen carrying a cake that was in the shape of a ladybug. “Ladies and gentleman, thank you all for coming! Now, let’s all wish this special little bug a happy birthday!”

Audrey and Nathan flanked Juliet as the cake was set in front of her, with a single candle burning, and the bar filled with the tunes of Happy Birthday. When the singing finished, Audrey leaned forward and blew out the candle. “Happy birthday, baby girl!”

A chorus of claps rang out, and Duke swooped in to replace the cake with a tinier version. “Here you go, Bug! This one is yours to do with as you please.”

Juliet looked up at the three main adults in her life, and Nathan swore he saw an adorable devious look flash across her face. And sure enough, as soon as the three adults grinned back at her, Juliet smashed both hands down into the cake, sending bits of chocolate flying. Nathan groaned, but couldn’t help but laugh, especially when Juliet scooped up the pieces and started shoving them in her mouth, while clearly enjoying it. “Yum!”

As Duke wrapped an arm around Audrey’s shoulders, she leaned into him. “Thank you so much for this, Duke. This is amazing.”

“Always.” Duke pulled Audrey a little closer before releasing her and turned towards the crowd. “Alright everyone, cake and alcohol are now served!”

A cheer rang out, and Audrey moved towards Nathan, who was helping his little girl eat her cake. He looked up at his wife and smiled. “She’s all yours, you know. You’re the only one I’ve seen inhale a cake like this before.”

Audrey swatted at her husband, but grinned. It was true.

\------------

“Come on, Parker, we’re going to be late.”

“Why does Daddy call you Parker?”

Audrey was kneeling in front of Juliet, so she could tie her baby girl’s shoes, and so looked up into her crystal clear blue eyes. “It’s a nickname he has for me, baby girl. Kind of like how Uncle Duke calls you Bug.”

“But Parker is my middle name.”

“That it is. Your daddy liked the name so much, he wanted to make sure you had it too.”

Juliet seemed pleased with this explanation, so nodded, and continued to watch her mother tie her shoes.

“Parker, come on.”

Audrey sighed as Nathan appeared in the front room. “Nathan, we’re not going to be late. We still have plenty of time. You need to calm down.”

Nathan drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. She was right. Of course she was right. But, it was Juliet’s first day of kindergarten, and he didn’t want her to be late. It probably wouldn’t be great for the daughter of Haven’s police chief to be tardy on her first day. “We still need to take her picture.”

Audrey patted Juliet’s stomach and stood up. “Ok, you’ll do. Come on, baby girl. Let’s go stand out front so Daddy can take your picture.”

Juliet turned and ran towards the front door, with Peanut hot on her heels. Those two were inseparable, and Audrey idly wondered how Peanut was going to do without Juliet here to entertain him all day. It had been awhile since he was the only one in the house. “Don’t get dirt on your shoes before we even leave!” She could only sigh when the front door was flung open, and she could hear gravel crunching from the front walk. Audrey turned towards Nathan. “She’s definitely your daughter. Always wanting to be out in the wilderness.”

Normally, Nathan would have been pleased with Audrey’s teasing, but today he was too focused on getting Juliet to school, so turned in the direction of Juliet. “Juliet! Come on, I want to take your photo.” He moved towards the front door, and Audrey could hear him calling Peanut on his way out. She had to laugh.

Following them out, she could see that Nathan had somehow already captured Peanut, but his daughter was still running around, so she took pity on him, and helped corral their daughter. Somehow, they managed to get Juliet to sit still on the porch steps, with Peanut sitting in her lap.

“Ok, don’t move. Let me get this.”

Audrey stood back, and crossed her arms over her chest, thinking how adorable her family was. Motherhood was definitely something she was enjoying.

“Ok, I got it. Alright! Everybody in the Bronco! Not you, Peanut, come on.”

As Nathan struggled to get their dog inside, Audrey giggled while shooing Juliet towards the truck. “Come on, baby girl. We better be ready by the time Daddy gets here.” Audrey helped Juliet climb into the massive truck, and belted her in so that she was sitting in the middle seat. She climbed in behind her, and shut the door, just as Nathan moved towards them.

“Ok, let’s get this show on the road.”

As they pulled up to the school, Audrey could feel tension starting to radiate from Juliet. “Are you ok, baby girl?”

Juliet shook her head and turned towards Audrey with tears in her eyes. “I’m scared, Mommy. Can you come with me?”

Audrey pulled her little girl into a hug. “It’ll be ok, baby girl. You already have so many friends here!”

“But, I’ll miss you!”

“Daddy and I will be back to pick you up before you know it. Maybe we’ll bring Peanut, too.”

Juliet sniffed, but seemed to be mollified. “Ok.”

Nathan parked, and both he and Audrey climbed out, with Juliet moving towards her father’s side so he could lift her out. She wrapped her little body around his, and Nathan could feel himself wavering on letting her go. He had to though. It was her first day at school, and she needed to do this. He needed to do this. She was just growing up so fast! “Ok, sweetheart, I’m going to put you down, ok?” He could feel her nod against his shoulder, so he lowered her to the ground, and straightened her dress and backpack. He looked up over her head, and could see her teacher waving to them. “Look, Juliet, there’s your teacher, why don’t you go and say hi? Mommy and I will wait here until you go in, and then we’ll be here to pick you up when you’re done.”

Juliet turned to look towards the school, and then back to her daddy. She reached up to wrap her arms around his neck, and pulled him into a hug. “I’ll miss you, Daddy.” And with that, she pulled back, wrapped her arms around Audrey, and then was off running to her teacher.

Nathan straightened up, and moved towards his wife, pulling her into his arms as they watched their baby girl run towards the school. She paused once to turn and wave, and then was disappearing into the school. He could feel a tear run down his face, and quickly wiped it away, but felt a bit better when he heard a sniffle come from Audrey. “She’s really growing up.”

“That she is, daddy. That she is.”  



	25. A Proposition

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Totally don’t own these characters, or this world. I just like to be a part of it.
> 
> Author’s Notes: Heads up – time shift again. 
> 
> A big thank you to my beta who forced me to pull back on a few things in this chapter. She always calls me out on what I’m doing wrong, which ultimately makes this way better for you all. 
> 
> Here’s the promised Tuesday update!

** A Proposition **

  
“Ok, Bug. What have you got?”

Juliet furrowed her brow and then laid her cards down on the table in front of her. “Read’m in weep.”

Duke was about to correct Juliet as to how to properly say the phrase as he watched her take a large gulp of her chocolate milk, but looking at her cards made him pause. “Damn it.”

“You said a bad word.”

Duke guilty looked up at Juliet. “You’re right, Bug. That was a bad word. I shouldn’t have said it.”

“Daddy would get mad if you said that. Mommy would just wink at you and tell you not to tell Daddy.”

The things Juliet would say made Duke laugh every time, and this time was no exception. “Really? I’ve known your Daddy to say a bad word or two in my time.”

Juliet shook her head. “Daddy only says bad words when he’s mad.” She paused and looked down. “He’s mad a lot. I hear him and mommy yelling. It makes me sad.”

Duke was pretty sure his heart broke a little as he listened to Juliet. Her words were starting to crack as tears gathered in her eyes.

“Hey, Bug, come here.”

Duke held his arms out as Juliet looked up and scampered off her seat across from him, and wrapped them around Juliet as she climbed into his lap. He held her as she sniffled, and looked up at the ceiling of the boat, trying to compose himself before speaking. In that moment, he was livid with Nathan and Audrey. They were so hell-bent on finding their son, they were ignoring the needs of their daughter. Even now, while it was great he was able to spend time with her, he only had the opportunity because they were off talking to their son. And would be for god knows how long. He already knew he’d be driving Juliet to school in the morning, too. So, even though her parents weren’t there for her, he would damn well make sure he would be. Even if it meant defending those same parents he was currently cursing. “Your mommy and daddy are just really stressed out right now, Bug. You know how you can’t feel things anymore?”

Juliet pulled back to look at Duke, and nodded.

“Well, there’s a lot of people who are having things like that happen to them lately, and your mommy and daddy are the ones that fix them.”

As he spoke, Duke suddenly had a nail of fear stab through him. Should he be the one telling Juliet about what’s going on? Shouldn’t this be coming from her parents? Truthfully, it should, but it was obvious they were keeping her in the dark, and even though she was so young, she deserved to know why her parents were suddenly acting differently than usual.

“They do?”

“Uh huh.”

“How come they haven’t fixed me then?”

Duke sighed. Sometimes, the kid was too smart for her own good. This wasn’t going well, but then, it wasn’t something he should have to be explaining. Every time he spent time with Juliet, he always felt a small pang of regret he hadn’t found anyone yet to settle down with and have kids. Deep down, he was a kid person. He just understood them. But he had never found anyone he could see himself settling down with. Even Evi. Sure, they were married, but he couldn’t really see himself having kids with her. There was a new girl who had recently come to town though who he could see himself being attracted to. He had overheard she was from Boston, and was in town trying to escape the craziness of the big city. Yeah, maybe her.

He shook his head to get his thoughts back on the girl currently sitting on his lap. “Because you have a special superpower, Bug.”

“A special superpower?”

“Yeah. Your daddy has the same one, did you know that?”

Juliet’s eyes went as round as saucers. She was fascinated by this turn of events.

When Juliet shook her head, Duke sighed, but continued on. “Yup, he can’t feel things either. Well, except for your mommy.”

“I can feel Mommy too!”

“I’m sure you can. Because that’s your mommy’s superpower. She’s extra special. She’s protected from everyone’s superpower.”

“Wow, really?”

“Mmm hmm.”

“Do you have a superpower?”

Duke nodded. “I do.”

“What’s your superpower?”

“I can make other people’s superpowers go away.”

“Whoa, so just like Mommy and Daddy?”

Duke chuckled. Oh, this kid. “Kind of. We do it a little differently, but, yeah.”

“So, since I have a special superpower, that means you can’t take mine away either, right?”

“That’s right. But I don’t have my superpower right now anyways.”

“Does that make you sad?”

Did it make him sad? On the one hand, it was nice being ‘normal’ and not have to worry about being caught up in everything. But on the other hand, he did kind of miss being needed, and getting out there and helping people. There were both pros and cons to having his Trouble, and he couldn’t decide which column had more checkmarks in it, so he answered the only way he could think. “I’m not sure.”

The two of them sat in silence for a few moments until Duke finally spoke. “Ok, Bug. I think it’s about time for you to get to bed. You’ve got school in the morning.”

Juliet shuffled off of Duke’s lap and dropped to the floor. “Are you driving me to school tomorrow? Can I sit up front?”

Duke had to grin. Nathan would kill him for allowing her to keep sitting up front, but if that’s what the Bug wanted, that’s what she would get. “Of course. I’ll pack you a lunch too, but let’s get you in the shower first so we can get you washed before bed.”

“Yay!”

Duke shook his head as Juliet ran through the boat toward his tiny bathroom, and quickly gathered up the cards from their poker game. He had to make sure he helped her, because otherwise, the kid would flood his tiny bathroom. She was used to having much more space than what his boat provided. But, it didn’t matter. He would do anything for Juliet. That kid could make anyone smile.

\-----------------------------------------

Audrey’s stomach was rolling, and if she had actually eaten anything that morning, she was pretty sure she wouldn’t have been able to keep it down. Last night took an emotional toll on her, to the point where she was positive she was getting sick. All of the sleepless nights and anxiety were finally catching up to her, and of course, they were catching up at precisely the wrong time. She squeezed her eyes tightly shut, trying to ward off the rolling waves of exhaustion that had been plaguing her for days. Today was worse than usual, but then, staying up until the wee hours of the morning would do that to a person. But she couldn’t concentrate on her deteriorating health for long as sounds started to leak through her thoughts.

Audrey flicked her eyes over to Nathan, registering him quickly standing up, before she looked back towards the door of their office, standing herself to walk around her desk to see what all the commotion was about. She made it out of the door only moments before Nathan, and her eyes widened at the chaos erupting in the room, momentarily freezing her to her current spot. Thankfully, Nathan’s reactions were still on point, and he quickly moved around her and into the melee.

Officers seemed to be coming out of the woodwork, and all were moving in to help restrain a man who was currently being taken to the floor. For a brief moment, Audrey could see a shock of black hair, and momentarily thought it was Duke, and wondered what he had done now to cause the ire of the entire Haven PD. But as people started moving positions, and Nathan was able to wade his way to the center of commotion, she could clearly see it was not in fact Duke, but rather, James, and her heart immediately started beating like a jackhammer.

“Break it up! Break it up!”

Nathan’s voice lifted above the commotion, and stopped a few of the officers on the outer ring of people. The ones in the thick of it however, were still struggling to hold James, who was now no longer struggling. Audrey hoped he hadn’t been accidentally knocked unconscious, but when she saw him lift his eyes to Nathan, she knew he realized he would be ok now Nathan was here.

Nathan reached forward and pulled one of the officers off of James. “Gregor, get back. Get off.” Once he had managed to pry one individual off, the others were easier, and he was able to lift James back to a standing position.

“Boss! That’s the guy you’ve been asking us to find!”

Nathan turned with anger flaring in his eyes to Gregor. “Thank you, officer, but that’s no reason to wrestle him to the ground. I have him now. Get back to your station.”

When Gregor refused for a moment, Nathan continued to stare him down, until Gregor finally gave up, and walked back to his desk in the bullpen.

“Some officers you have here.”

Nathan glared at James who was dusting himself off, and readjusting his rumpled clothes, and grabbed his upper arm, dragging him towards Audrey’s office. “My office. Now.”

Audrey watched as the two men stumbled towards her open door, and followed them in, shutting the door behind her.

James shrugged Nathan off, and moved further into the office before turning around to face Nathan and Audrey. “You know, I came in here to propose something, but now I’m tempted to just walk on out and keep on walking.”

Audrey could see Nathan’s jaw tense, so she stepped between the two men. “James, I’m sorry about what happened. Everyone is just on edge right now because of the increase in Troubles, and truthfully, we’ve been hounding everyone to find you. They just got a little over excited to finally find you.”

James snorted. “Yeah, they found me alright. They found me as I willingly walked in their front door.”

Nathan raked his hands through his hair and had to turn away for a moment. Of all the stupid, unprofessional, ridiculous things his officers could do. He would have to have a talk with everyone once all of this calmed down. “Why are you here?”

James looked towards the old black couch sitting in the room, and plopped down on it. “I’ve been thinking a lot about our conversation last night, and I wanted to talk to you more. I want you to understand where I’m coming from.”

He paused, and glanced towards Nathan before looking at Audrey, who nodded, encouraging him to continue. “I don’t want to go back into the Barn. At all. But, I understand I’m the only person other than you who seemingly can be taken by the Barn. As a human, deep down, I’m naturally leaning towards self-preservation, which would ultimately mean forcing you to go into the Barn so I don’t have to, but I’ve done my research on you, and know you have a family here. And, as selfish as I may be, I can’t be selfish enough to break that family up. While the Cogan’s may not have been my real family, they were a family to me, and I couldn’t even imagine having to grow up without them. There were so many things that happened in my life where I needed them, and they were always there. I’m not sure how I would have become the person I am if they hadn’t been there.

“So, because of that, I came here with a proposal. I want us to work to figure out how to stop the cycle of the Barn. I want us to sit down and go through the research. Leave no stone unturned. Together.”

Nathan nodded as he listened to James’ words. They were completely reasonable, and what he ultimately wanted as well. As much as his gut was screaming at him to do everything to protect his wife and daughter, deep down he knew he had to protect his son as well, and it was eating at him, because he just didn’t know how to do that. He wasn’t an idiot. He knew it would come down to saving his wife, or saving his son, with no grey area, and he wasn’t prepared for that. He would give his own life before sacrificing one of theirs, but he knew he couldn’t do that either, because without him, they would still be left with the Barn, and would be left without their protector. He was faced with an impossible choice, and it was making him sick. But, figuring this out together might just be what solves everything. With James on their side, maybe they could finally figure out the history of the Barn, and how to finally stop it, which would mean he wouldn’t have to lose anyone. A small bit of hope started to bubble inside of him, and it was more than he’d felt in a long time.

“But, I have one condition of me helping you.”

And just like that, the small bubble of hope inside of Nathan popped. If he could feel, he knew he would feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand at attention, and because of that, he absentmindedly started rubbing the back of his neck. His actions did not go unnoticed by his wife. “And what is that?”

“I want to spend a day with Juliet.”

“Of course!”

Nathan winged his eyes to his wife’s, and for once, couldn’t figure out what she was doing. But then, of course he knew was she was doing. She wanted her family to be a family, and she inherently trusted her son, even though she had no plausible reason to do so. Nathan sighed. There was no point in overthinking this situation, or arguing at the moment. Audrey had made their decision, and he was going to go along with it – no matter how unsure he was.

“Great. We can start researching tomorrow, and I’ll see Juliet this weekend since I’m assuming she’ll be in school tomorrow.”

Audrey nodded, and finally could feel her nausea sink away. Things were going to be ok. Her son was here, wanting to help, and was clearly showing an interest in being a part of the family. “That’d be great, James.”

At that, James stood from his place on the couch, and looked towards the door. “I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

He paused, and Audrey instantly knew why. “Here, let me walk you out.” She snaked her arm through James’ and opened the door to walk him out. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Nathan slump into his chair. It was destroying her how stressed out he was, but she was just so happy to see her family coming together. She may only have this reprieve for a few days, and she was going to revel in it while she could.

\--------------

Nathan sat with his head in his hands. What had he done in a previous life for him to be subjected to such a shitty life this go around? His entire life, it was like the universe was punishing him for something, and his punishment seemed to get worse and worse the older he got. All he wanted was a nice, quiet life. He wanted to work at his job that he loved, with the woman he loved, and then go home and enjoy her and their daughter in the house he had built for them. Why was that so much to ask for? Millions of people around the world were able to enjoy that. Why couldn’t he? Why was he forced to suffer all the time?

So many emotions were rolling through him – everything from melancholy to anger – and thankfully his officemate knew exactly how to handle this – by just being with him, but not saying a word. His life may have been one of suffering, but at least he had her. He had Audrey. And he thanked god every day for her, because she always seemed to know how to handle him. She had from the very moment she met him and threw a joke at him in the middle of a standoff. He might have started to love her at that very moment, because, how could he not? They had gone through so much together – more than any normal couple – and because of that, they knew everything about each other. And she knew in this moment, he needed the precious time to collect his thoughts and feelings, and needed absolute peace to do so.

And so when the door to the office flung open, and he still hadn’t fully collected his thoughts and feelings, he was ready to rip off the head of whatever asshole was brave enough to intrude on the calmness of Audrey’s office. The epitaph that screamed from his lips as he demanded to know what the person was doing there had Audrey’s eyes widening as she glanced between the two men, and it was her look that had Nathan actually looking towards the intruder. The fact it was Duke lessened his anger a touch, but definitely not enough to diffuse the situation. The man was his friend, but that didn’t make Nathan want to see him right now. The only person he wanted to be around was Audrey. “You need to leave.”

“No. We need to talk.”

Nathan slowly stood, placing his palms on his desk, irritation radiating from his eyes. “Not now we don’t.”

“Yes, we do. And don’t think for a second you intimidate me, Nathan, because you don’t. You and I both know I won’t back down from you. It’s about Juliet.”

Audrey knew her husband was struggling to hold on to his composure. He rarely let his emotions get the better of him – in fact, he was one of the most stoic people she had ever come across – but when he was stressed out – really stressed out – sometimes, his emotions would get the better of him.  And today was one of those days. James had really gotten to both of them, for different reasons, and she knew deep down he was struggling with the problem of how he was going to keep his family safe. All of his family, including James, and it was tearing him apart. There were so many reasons why they needed to figure out how to stop the cycle of the Troubles, but the one most important to her – other than Juliet – was Nathan. Ten years ago, his stress was palpable to her, even though she didn’t know him intimately, and it was why she pushed him away. But now…now she did know him intimately, as he did her, and it was making his stress even worse. And right now, as much as she loved Duke, and wanted with all of her heart to ask what was so important about Juliet that he felt the need to barge in here, she knew it could wait until later tonight when Nathan was more composed. Anything could wait, unless… “Is Juliet ok? Was she hurt?”

Duke turned from his stare down with Nathan to Audrey. “No, not physically anyways.”

Audrey let out a breath, but sharply inhaled another as she processed his words. “What are you saying, Duke?”

“I’m saying, we need to have a serious discussion about how you two are behaving around her.”

“We are not having this conversation now.”

Audrey turned to look at Nathan, and then moved towards Duke, placing her hands on his upper arm. “Duke, can you come over later this evening? I’ll cook us some dinner. We can talk then. This morning has just been…tense. James stopped by. Later will be better to talk. But, you’re positive Juliet is ok?”

Duke sighed. He could never say no to Audrey, no matter how angry he was at her. “She’s at school, she’s fine. But yes, tonight. No exceptions.”

Audrey nodded.

“And I want steak.”

“Done.” Audrey grinned at her friend. Something was definitely bothering him, and it was concerning her daughter. If it was up to her, she wanted to know everything now, but something in her was telling her to let it wait a bit. Satisfied that Juliet wasn’t in the hospital with an injury, she made a mental note to get to the school a little early so Juliet could help her pick out the items for dinner that night. She would be excited to “cook” for her Uncle Duke.

“Tonight.”

Audrey nodded. “Tonight.”

Duke flashed one more look in Nathan’s direction, and then walked out the door. Audrey blew out a sigh of relief to have diffused the situation, but knew she really had only postponed the inevitable. Looking over towards her husband, she could only hope he was able to mentally process their conversation with James enough so he could concentrate on Juliet tonight.

\-------------------------------

“Mommy, can I have a snack?”

Audrey flicked her eyes up to the clock on the wall to make sure it wasn’t too late before answering Juliet. “Of course, baby girl. Do you need any help?”

“No, mommy, I got it.”

As Juliet sauntered into the kitchen with Peanut hot on her heels, Audrey shook her head. Her baby girl was growing up so fast. And that thought made her heart sink, because the possibility of having to sacrifice herself for the town was growing stronger day by day. If they couldn’t figure out how to stop the cycle, she may never get to see Juliet grow up. The next time she would see her, Juliet would be in her mid-thirties. She would probably be married and have kids of her own, and Audrey wouldn’t realize any of them were her family.

“Baby, what’s wrong?”

Nathan’s voice pulled her out of her dark thoughts, and she forced a smile to her face. “Nothing. Sorry, what were we saying?” Nathan held her gaze, and she knew without a doubt he didn’t believe her, but after a few moments, he closed his eyes, and when they reopened, he was looking back towards Duke.

“Ok, Duke, we’re here, we’ve eaten. What did you want to talk about?”

“Oh, you know. The weather and such. What do you think of this humidity we’ve been having?”

At the narrowing of Nathan’s eyes, Duke sighed. “What do you think I want to talk about? I want to talk about James.”

“I thought you wanted to talk about Juliet.”

“I do, but now I’m just as interested in James, and want to talk about him.”

Nathan sighed. He didn’t want to talk about James right now. He was emotionally exhausted, and really just wanted to go to bed. But, he knew Duke was only trying to look out for them, so was willing to go along with the conversation. “What about?”

“Nathan, come on. You obviously had some sort of heavy conversation with him at the station today, and I’m betting it stemmed from whatever conversation you all had last night.” Duke held up his hand when Nathan went to interrupt. “And yes, I deserve to know, mostly because I’ve been taking care of your daughter this whole time you’ve been chasing after your son. You both need to start remembering she needs you. And she’s picking up on what’s going on around here, and it’s starting to bother her. She started crying last night when she told me about the arguing you two have been doing. God, can’t you even keep it together in front of her? She’s only six for Christ’s sake.” Spent from his speech, Duke grabbed his beer, took a long swig, and leaned back in his chair, allowing both Audrey and Nathan a few moments to collect their thoughts. Nathan has his eyes closed, whereas Audrey turned and looked forlornly towards the kitchen.

“She was crying?”

Duke nodded at Audrey’s question, and watched as she put her head in her hands.

“I know she overheard us once, but I didn’t realize it was more than that. But, once is still once too many times.” She looked up at Nathan, and could see he was feeling guilty too.

“Duke, you should have called us.”

“Oh yeah, like either you or Audrey would have answered your phone last night. And besides, I’m pretty sure she was happier being away from you guys anyways. Can’t you tell she looks more rested today than she has in a while? It’s because she was finally able to get away the palpable tension that is suffocating this household right now.”

Audrey looked up at Duke, and felt she needed to defend her and Nathan, even though she knew Duke was right. “She’s just been tired from school.”

Because he was never able to be truly angry at Audrey, Duke softened his tone when answering her, but still kept up the bite in his voice. Juliet deserved better than them in this moment. “You know that’s not true.”

Audrey blew out a breath and looked towards the ceiling as she tried to figure out what she wanted to say – what she needed to do. Duke was right. The tension in the house was unbearable, but there was little she could do about it. They were inching closer and closer to the arrival of the Hunter, and James’ request to spend a day with Juliet had thrown her. She immediately had said yes – why shouldn’t she? – because she was excited for her two children to be together. But now that she was home, and away from the situation, she was starting to wonder why exactly James wanted to meet with Juliet. She couldn’t help it – she was second guessing everyone. And even the nap she managed to sneak in this afternoon on the office couch wasn’t helping her exhaustion levels, and corresponding paranoia levels.

And speaking of Juliet, suddenly she was standing at the table. Audrey was so engrossed in her own thoughts, she hadn’t even heard her daughter walk up to them. She momentarily wondered why Peanut wasn’t at his usual spot between Juliet’s legs, but couldn’t dwell on the thought, because Juliet was looking at her daddy and talking.

“Daddy, you need to come to the kitchen.”

Nathan leaned forward in his chair, angling his body towards his daughter. He had to momentarily leave behind his feelings of guilt. “Why?”

“You just do.”

He sighed. Now was not the time he wanted to be negotiating with a small child. He was too irritated at Duke’s words – regardless of how correct they were. “Juliet, we’re having a conversation here. Why do you need me to come to the kitchen?” Nathan watched as his daughter conducted a mini debate in her head. She was so much like her mother.

“Um, you know that watermelon that was on the counter?”

As soon as Nathan heard Juliet’s words, he instantly knew this wasn’t going to be good. “Yes.”

“It fell off and broke.”

“It broke?”

“Uh huh.”

Nathan sighed and rubbed the back of his neck in frustration. “Where were you when it broke?”

“I was in the pantry.”

“If you were in the pantry, how did it fall and break?”

“I don’t know. Maybe it’s Troubled.”

Audrey had to bite down hard on her lip to stop from laughing. If anything, Juliet sure knew how to break the tension in a room. As Nathan stood up, Audrey looked up at her husband apologetically, and waited until he left the room to laugh. And only started laughing harder when she heard him say, “oh my god” upon seeing what was undoubtedly a spectacular mess. It felt good to laugh. It had been too long since she had really been able to laugh.

“It’s good to see you laugh.” Duke leaned forward in his chair so he was closer to Audrey, thereby being able to keep his voice low enough for Nathan not to hear.

“Yeah. It feels good, too. I haven’t felt like laughing a whole lot lately.” Her voice came out low and unsteady.

“When this is all over, I’m going to make sure you have a reason to laugh every day.”

Audrey gave Duke a small smile. He was such a good friend, and she was so lucky to have him in her life. He somehow always made sure things would turn out ok. And because of that, and because of so much more, he deserved to know everything he was asking.

“I’m sorry about today at the station. You just came at completely the wrong time. We went to see James last night, and it was…interesting. He does remember us.”

“He does? How?”

“I’m still not entirely sure, but I would guess it’s because he’s not meant to be in the Barn. I am. So, I’m the only one whose memories are wiped.”

“Why did the Barn take him in the first place? I mean, the last time, he just got caught up with Lucy in there too, but this time, you didn’t go.”

“We discussed that. It was because the Barn only takes people who want to go. He wanted to go – to get away from Arla – and I…I didn’t.”

Duke narrowed his eyes. He couldn’t figure out where this was going. “Yeah, but isn’t the Barn supposed to be for you? How could it even take him? Regardless of how badly he wanted out of here.”

Audrey swallowed. “I think it’s because he’s half me. And because he’s only half me, that’s why it dropped him off early. That’s why the Troubles are back now. They’ll only stay away for 27 years if I go in the Barn.”

“You’re not seriously considering going in, are you?”

“I’m not, but I’m not sure I’ll have much of a choice.”

Audrey stopped as Nathan wandered back into the room, and Audrey could see Juliet walking with her head hung low down the hallway towards the bathroom, with Peanut at her heels. Nathan must be sending her in there to take a bath. “Everything ok?”

Nathan took a deep breath. “Who knew there was that much liquid in a watermelon? It was everywhere. I had Juliet help me clean it up. She’s on her way to take a bath now because she’s sticky. I am too, to be honest.” Nathan shot Duke a death glare when he realized Duke was more than likely going to say something involving some sort of sexual innuendo. “I’m going to go help her get in the tub. Do either of you need anything before I go?”

“No, thank you, Nathan. You didn’t get angry at her, did you?”

Nathan looked at his wife, hurt from her insinuation, but knowing she was only asking because of what Duke had recently said. “No, but she knows I’m not happy. Audrey, she broke a watermelon. Any parent wouldn’t be happy about that. Trust me. If you had just cleaned that up, you wouldn’t be happy either.”

Audrey only nodded, and then watched her husband walk down the hallway towards the bathroom, and their little girl. “He’s so good with her, but I am worried his temper is getting the better of him lately.”

“He’s just worried about you Audrey. He’s worried about both of you.”

“I know.”

“I’m worried about both of you.”

Audrey turned back towards Duke. “I know.”

The two friends sat in amicable silence for a few moments before Duke pressed on. “So what happened at the station today?”

Giving herself a few moments to collect her thoughts, Audrey reached for her water and took a deep gulp, allowing the cool liquid to soothe her dry throat. “He said he had thought things through last night, and wanted to talk more. He absolutely does not want to return to the Barn, but knows I’m the only other one who can go, and he knows now I have a family here – a family he says he doesn’t want to break up. So he’s asked for us to sit down and start going through the research again and see if we can figure out a solution to all of this. Together.”

“That sounds…reasonable.” Duke watched as Audrey shrugged and looked away, just as she always did when she was collecting her thoughts. Something else was going on she wasn’t saying. “What is it?” And as she looked back at him, he could feel his stomach plummet. Something was definitely going on, and it wasn’t good.

“He wants to spend a day with Juliet.”

“What? Why would he want that?”

“I’m not sure, and I initially said yes right away, but now that I’m thinking about it, I’m not as sure.”

He knew she was holding something back again. “Why?”

Audrey paused before speaking. No matter how many times she went through James’ words in her head, and even though she knew they were words he was going to say, they still hurt. “Because he told me he initially was going to stay hidden so I would be forced to go in the Barn, and he could stay here.”

Duke pounded his fists on the table and swiftly stood, raising his voice more than intended. “Damn it, I will not allow that little punk to do that!”

“Duke…”

“What’s going on out here?” Nathan came striding into the room, keeping his voice barely above a whisper. “Duke, you’re scaring Juliet, and you said yourself she’s stressed out.”

Audrey quickly stood up and angled her body between her husband and friend. She placed a hand on Nathan’s cheek, knowing the skin to skin contact would calm him down. “Nathan, it’s ok. He didn’t mean to. Everyone is just a little tense right now.”

Nathan licked his lips, itching for a way to relieve some of the pent up anger flowing through his body, but his wife’s cool hand on his cheek effectively served to temper his pique.  He blew out a breath, and looked into her eyes. “This isn’t over. I need to get back to Juliet.”

Audrey brought her other hand to Nathan’s cheek, framing his face, and brought his forehead down to hers. She spoke so only he could hear. “It’s going to be ok, Nathan.” She could feel him sigh, but could also feel his body sag a little in relief. In that moment, she knew Nathan was just as upset as she was, and she would make sure to make him a priority later tonight once Duke had left, and Juliet was fully asleep.

Nathan pulled back, looked once more at Duke, and then headed back towards the bathroom.

“I’m sorry, Audrey.”

“Duke, it’s ok. Really.”

“I do mean it though, Audrey. I’m not going to let that punk force your hand. None of you will be leaving my sight until this is all over.”

Audrey forced a smile to her face that wouldn’t reach her eyes. “I know.”

Duke reached down for his beer and drained it. Moving towards the kitchen, he placed the empty bottle on the kitchen counter, and perched his hands on the counter, leaning his weight on them, and keeping his back to Audrey. He was too emotional to face her right now, and needed a couple of moments. But when he felt her hand on his back, his shoulders sagged, and he turned to her. “I didn’t do well with the prospect of you leaving 10 years ago, Audrey, and I’m not doing well this time, either.”

“It’ll be ok, Duke. We’ll fix this.”

The sounds of water splashing reached their ears, and Duke sighed. “Sounds like Julie t and Nathan are finishing up. Will you say goodbye to them for me?”

“You’re not going to say goodnight to her? She’ll be disappointed she missed you.”

“I don’t think Nathan would appreciate that right now. I know he needs time to process things. Just tell her I had a poker game to get to.”

Audrey shorted. “I’m not going to ask why that would make sense to her.”

Duke grinned back. “Yeah, it’s probably best you don’t.”

The two friends looked at each other again, saying thousands of things without saying a word, and then Duke turned and headed out the door, with Audrey watching after him. She stood there for several minutes before the voices of her husband and daughter stirred her. It was time to be a mommy to a little girl. Decisions about her future would have to wait until morning.

 


	26. Research

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Totally don’t own these characters, or this world. I just like to be a part of it.
> 
> Author’s Notes: We’re sticking to the future timeline here, kids.
> 
> This one was tough for me to write. I’ve gotten way too emotionally involved in these characters.
> 
> Here’s the promised Tuesday update!

** Research **

“I told you not to eat that sandwich. I knew even your iron stomach wouldn’t be able to handle it. There’s no telling how long it was in the fridge.”

Audrey waved her arm in Nathan’s direction as she swished mouth wash in her mouth. Potential food poisoning was never fun, but sometimes you’re just so hungry, you overrule common sense and go for that lonely sandwich sitting in the station’s fridge.

“Why don’t you stay home? I can take Juliet.”

After spitting out the liquid, Audrey turned to Nathan. “No, I’m fine. I think I have it all out of me. I’m sure I’ll feel better once I get out and moving around.” Besides, she had to be fine. Today was the day James was going to spend with Juliet.

“Are you sure you’re ok?”

“Definitely. Let’s go.”

Nathan stood where he was, and studied his wife for a moment. “Do you think we should have told Juliet last night about meeting James today?”

“Are you crazy? She would have been bouncing off the walls all night, and would have been a terror today. No, we’ll tell her now. Besides, we still need to figure out how to tell her his name isn’t actually Cole, but James, and who he is.”

“Do you think we need to tell her who he is?”

Audrey blew out a breath. This was a question she had been mulling over all night. Did they need to tell her? Would it be so bad to just let her play with her “friend” for an afternoon? And then once (if) they stopped the Barn, and everything was normal, they could tell her then. And they could figure out how to be a family then. But, she had no idea what James was going to tell Juliet. Maybe she could intercept him beforehand to let him know their plans. That way everyone could at least be on the same page.

“Let’s just tell her her friend Cole wants to spend time with her today. We should tell her his name is James though. And, I want to talk to him before we let them loose together so he doesn’t drop the bomb of being her brother on her.”

Nathan nodded. He had been thinking the same thing. “So, what’s the deal with today again? I’m still not sure about leaving her alone with James.” At the tilting of Audrey’s head, which clearly indicated she thought Nathan was being ridiculous since both James and Juliet were their kids, he quickly continued on. “I’d just like to be able to keep an eye on her.”

“We’re going to drop her off at the park, so the two of them can fly her kite, play on the playground, and that kind of thing. We can watch them from the coffee shop across the street.”

“I’m going to have a plain-clothed officer walk around the park too.”

Audrey regarded her husband and could see he was a ball of anxiety, so she walked up to him and rested her arms on his shoulders so she could play with the hair on the nape of his neck. When she felt his hands rest on her hips, she knew she at least had his attention. He was, as always, overreacting, but she could understand where he was coming from. “Nathan…”

Taking advantage of Audrey’s close proximity, Nathan dropped his forehead to hers. The feeling of her skin was the only thing that could anchor him, and calm him down. It was like a soothing balm. Even when he wasn’t affected by his Trouble, her touch was still different than everyone else’s, and it was always the only thing in the world he depended on. “I know, I know. Please, just let me have this.”

Audrey closed her eyes, breathing in the scent of her husband. They could both feel it – the knowledge that their life would be a ball of tension on overdrive for the next few weeks, until the Hunter arrived. As such, they needed to take advantage of these quiet moments whenever they could. “Ok.”

“Mommy! Daddy! Are we going?”

Nathan chuckled before chastely kissing Audrey on the lips and stepping back. Their daughter sure knew how to make her presence known. “Yes, baby girl, let’s get ready and get going.”

“What are we doing today?”

Squatting down so he was at eye level with his girl, Nathan rubbed the back of his neck before speaking. “Do you remember your friend Cole?”

Juliet nodded, a small smile starting to form on her lips.

“Well, he called last night and was wondering if he could fly kites with you in the park today. So we’re going to take you there to spend some time with him.”

Nathan almost toppled over as his little girl squealed with delight and launched herself at him for a bear hug. He wrapped one arm around her as the other touched the floor behind him to brace himself, and he couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Oh, Daddy! That’ll be so much fun! Are you and Mommy coming too?”

“No, we’ll let you two play. We’ll be across the street though in case you need us.”

Juliet pulled back and started jiggling from foot to foot in front of Nathan. “Can Peanut come too?”

“Not this time, baby girl. Maybe next time though.”

Nathan watched as Juliet turned to the tiny dog dancing around the room. “Sorry, Peanut. I asked.”

Audrey had to smirk. “Just one thing, baby girl.” This felt so awkward to say, but since Juliet was only 6, it probably wouldn’t even faze her. “When you saw Cole the last time, he was playing a silly game where he changed his name. His name is really James.” When Juliet scrunched up her face in confusion, Audrey decided to take another track. “You know how Daddy sometimes calls me Parker, but my name is really Audrey?”

Juliet nodded.

“Well, it’s kind of like that with James. Only certain people call him Cole. You can just ask him what he would like you to call him.”

“Ok. I can do that.”

Audrey could see her daughter was still a little confused, so she did what any mother would do – changed topics through distraction. “Well, are you ready to go? Let’s go get your kite in the truck.”

As Juliet raced out of the room to get her kite, Nathan turned to Audrey, pulling her into his arms once more. “I saw what you did there with distraction.”

Audrey grinned and stared at Nathan’s chest as she raked a fingernail down his chest towards his stomach. “I have you Wuornos’ figured out.”

“Hmmm, that you do.” And with her finger cleverly and competently distracting him, Nathan leaned down to touch his lips to hers.

“Let’s gooooooooooooooo!!!!!” Juliet’s voice floated down the hallway into Nathan and Audrey’s bedroom.

“Foiled again by a six year old.”

Audrey looked up into Nathan’s eyes. “Don’t worry, I’ll distract you again later tonight.”

Capturing Audrey’s chin in his hand, Nathan tilted her lips once again up to his. “I’m counting on it.”

And with that, Nathan reached down to take Audrey’s hand in his own, and together walked through the house towards their daughter, who had already flung open the front door and was running towards the Bronco. This time, Nathan let Audrey run after Peanut who was hot on Juliet’s heels, as he dealt with putting the kite in the back of the truck.

\----------------------

“I wish I had the Trouble of super-hearing.”

“Wouldn’t that be more of a superpower than a Trouble?”

Audrey frowned as she looked out the window towards the park. Juliet and James had been flying her kite for over an hour, and were now walking together towards the ice cream vendor. Apparently Juliet had successfully conned James into buying her another ice cream cone. This was two encounters between the two, and two ice cream cones. The little girl was destined to become a cop like her parents – she could make anyone do what she wanted them to, and no Trouble was involved.

“Maybe, but, either way, I wish I had it.” Audrey turned back towards Nathan who was blowing on his second cup of coffee in a vain attempt to blend in. She sighed, and reached towards the mug. “Here, let me.” When he handed her the mug, she took it in her own hands, and blew on it a few times before tentatively taking a small sip. When the hot liquid burned the roof of her mouth, she grimaced. “This needs like five more minutes. It’s really hot.” She passed the mug back to Nathan, and resumed her vigil on her two children. “I just really would like to know what they’re talking about.”

Taking the mug back from Audrey, Nathan put it down on the table, and decided instead to focus his attention on the pastry he had selected. After tearing it in two, he took a bite out of the larger piece and chewed thoughtfully. “Well, knowing Juliet, she’ll tell you everything. She can’t keep a secret if her life depended on it, which is why I don’t tell her what I’m buying you for Christmas anymore.”

Audrey couldn’t help but turn back towards her husband and smirk. This was a topic that was, and always would be, brought up. Juliet would probably be in her thirties and still be hearing about the time when Audrey asked her what Daddy had bought Mommy for Christmas, she had proudly answered, ‘it’s something you sit in, but I’m not telling you what color it is.’ The chair in question was still in Audrey’s study, and Audrey would curl up in it to read whenever she had the chance. Nathan had placed it near the window, so she could look out and daydream if she was ever able to tear herself away from whatever she was reading. “I wonder where she got that trait, because it sure didn’t come from either of us.”

At her words, Nathan pushed the pastry out of way, and reached for his mug of coffee while sighing. While his wife’s words were meant to be light, they carried a heavy burden. Both he and Audrey seemed to have a habit of keeping secrets from each other, and it was never for the best. Maybe they could learn a thing or two from their daughter. He turned towards the window, and watched as Juliet was clearly having the time of her life, chattering on about something as she and James licked through their ice cream cones. They were idly walking, but Nathan could tell James was leading her towards the gazebo so they could sit and watch the boats come and go in the harbor. It was actually a smart thing to do, because a six year old walking with an ice cream in hand was a sure bet for a disaster. Lord knows he had washed ice cream out of enough clothes to know – both Juliet’s and his. Movement coming from the other side of the table had Nathan looking up, and he questioningly looked at Audrey who was now standing.

“I need to use the restroom, and then get some water. I’ve had too much coffee, and I’m feeling jittery.”

Nathan furrowed his brow at her words. “You’ve barely even finished your one cup, and normally you’re on pot number three before you even admit to being jittery. Are you sure you’re ok? I told you to stay home.”

“I’m fine, I just need to pee.” And with that, Audrey turned and walked towards the restrooms at the back of the café. Nathan didn’t need to know her stomach was rolling again, with the smell of coffee seemingly the culprit. She just needed to splash some cold water on her face, and she would be fine. Also, watching Juliet and James and not knowing what was going on was giving her a serious case of anxiety.

They had brought Juliet to the park as discussed with James prior, and walked her and her kite over to the playground where James was waiting on a bench. Upon seeing her new friend, Juliet had run without abandon towards him, and launched herself in his arms. It had taken a few minutes of coaxing from Nathan to finally get Juliet to walk away for a few moments so Audrey could tell James to keep quiet about being siblings for the time being. Thankfully, he had been agreeable, and Audrey and Nathan reluctantly left their two kids to enjoy a pleasant afternoon together.

After splashing some water on her face, Audrey pulled several paper towels out of the dispenser, and wiped down her face. She knew she was looking paler than usual, and she silently vowed that if they ever got out of this, she was going to pack up Nathan, Juliet, and Peanut, and they were all going to enjoy a nice, relaxing vacation, where the only stress would come from whether or not the waiter on the beach would make it to her with a fresh drink before her current one ran out. Yes, that was definitely what she was going to do. But first, she needed to get through these next three weeks. Pinching her cheeks in a vain attempt to get some color in them, Audrey took one last look at herself in the mirror, before tossing the paper towels in the garbage, and walked out the door.

Walking back towards their table, Audrey was about to stop at the counter to order a water when she noticed a bottle of Gatorade sitting on her and Nathan’s table, and she couldn’t help but smile. Even after all of these years together, Nathan was still doing the little things for her. He always did the little things for her – even when they first met, and he bought her items and trinkets to welcome her to Maine. He was without a doubt, the most amazing man in the world, and somehow he was hers. To this day, it sometimes still baffled her how he only had eyes for her. From the moment she walked into town, she noticed women eyeing him up and down every day. He had definitely been Haven’s most eligible bachelor, and yet, he never noticed them. It was always like he was waiting for her, and once she arrived, his world had come together. But then, she supposed he could say the same about her. Every once in a while when she first arrived, she would notice men eying her. Sometimes they were more obvious than others, but none of them ever appealed to her. She had only ever been drawn to Nathan, except for a brief moment when she thought there could be something with Duke. Foolishly, she had even started to act on that moment, but even then, she knew deep down she was in love with Nathan, and it could only ever be Nathan. Even Chris had only been a distraction, and one moreso to prove she could have a boyfriend just like the real Audrey Parker did, more than anything else. And that distraction had promptly ended after her Groundhog Day, and the realizing the devastation she felt when Nathan died in her arms.

Sitting down, she watched as Nathan nodded towards the Gatorade bottle. “You need to drink that.”

Smirking, she replied with a mock salute and a, “yes, sir,” and took a healthy swig of the liquid. Gatorade was never her favorite drink on the planet, but sometimes she knew she needed to drink it to give her body what it needed. In the rare times she was sick, she would go through bottles of it at a time, swearing it made her feel better. If it actually did, who knew, but it always seemed to placate Nathan, which was good enough for her.

After another hour or so, Audrey glanced down at her phone to double check the time. “Ok, I think we’ve given them enough play time. Juliet is probably getting hungry, and I’m sure she’s getting tired. I want to get her fed and home before she starts getting cranky.

Nathan nodded in agreement, and started clearing off the table. When he returned from handing in their dishes, he reached out his hand for Audrey to take, and the two of them walked together towards their two children, both lost in impossible ‘I wonder what happened’ scenarios in their heads.

\--------------------

Audrey sighed as she pushed her food around her plate. “How many more meals do we have to eat here? I’m getting kind of sick of The Salt Shaker, to be honest.”

“Well, technically, it’s your fault we’re here, but I’m betting at least a few more times.” Nathan slanted his eyes towards Juliet, who was tucking in to her cheese pizza, obviously hungry after her active day with James, before leaning in to whisper to Audrey. “Are you sure you’re ok? I’ve never seen you not finish a lobster roll.”

“I’m fine. I guess I just have too much on my mind right now.” Audrey avoided Nathan’s gaze, and instead shoved her plate out of her way so it could easily be collected. And in order to distract her husband from further questioning her lack of appetite, Audrey turned towards their daughter and watched her happily munch her way through her food for a few moments. It was good that kids seemingly could eat the same thing for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, because Juliet had eaten so many cheese pizzas at The Salt Shaker lately, Audrey was positive she was going to turn into a cheese pizza. She needed to figure out a way to get Juliet to start eating some more fruits and vegetables to even out her increased dairy and bread intake. Maybe a trip to the farmer’s market tomorrow could convince Juliet to have a few healthier meals. It would mean a couple of hours of cutting fruit into bite-sized pieces, but Audrey knew it was worth it. Hopefully they all would be awake enough tomorrow morning after today’s activities to even make it to the market in time.

“So, what did you and James talk about, baby girl?”

“Nothing much.”

Juliet’s response floored Nathan. Normally a question like that would have sent the little girl into a full blown epic four hour story, but instead, they were only given a two word answer. That was enough to distract him from Audrey’s finicky appetite. “Nothing at all? Did you tell him about school?”

Juliet shrugged, but barely paused in her eating. “A little. Mommy, can I have dessert tonight?”

“No baby girl, not tonight. You had an ice cream at the park, remember?”

“Oh yeah, I forgot.”

Both his girls were distracting him from the matter at hand tonight, and it was starting to bug him, so Nathan tried to steer the conversation back to James. “Juliet, wasn’t there anything you and James talked about that was interesting?”

“Not really. I’m done, can we go soon?”

Her two parents looked questioningly at each other at Juliet waited for an answer, and Audrey shrugged her shoulders while lifting her eyebrow as if saying, ‘you jinxed this by saying she always told us everything.’ Juliet’s lack of response was maddening, but both her parents knew better than to push. If they learned anything as cops, there was always a will and a way to get information from someone, and questioning a little girl when she was clearly exhausted was not the way to go. No, they would just have to be patient, and ask her when she wasn’t expecting it.

Knowing this dinner was going nowhere, and therefore it was better to just get home, Nathan leaned back in his chair to signal for the bill. Once it was settled, he swept Juliet up into his arms, and could feel her body start to get heavy as she quickly started to fall asleep. She really was more tired than he thought she was. No wonder she wasn’t talking. “Maybe we’ll skip giving her a bath tonight, and just get her changed into her pajamas. I don’t think she’ll stay awake to wash her.”

Audrey nodded as she fished in Nathan’s jacket pocket for his keys so he wouldn’t have to set the sleeping Juliet down. She unlocked the truck, and stepped back so Nathan could strap Juliet in, before climbing in herself. “Can we go to the farmer’s market tomorrow? I want to buy some fruit for Juliet. I’m worried she’s eating too much cheese pizza lately.”

Nathan nodded as he turned the key in the ignition. “Ok. You could probably use some yourself. I feel like all you’ve been consuming lately are lobster rolls and coffee.” When he felt a hand lightly smack him on the shoulder, he grinned, and winked at Audrey before he looked behind them to safely pull out of the parking lot.

\-----------------------

When the stapler bounced off the wall with a resounding thud, Duke barely even moved, which only incensed Nathan even more. His nerves were almost completely frayed, and the only thing that seemed to relieve his tension was when he threw something, or when Audrey would come up to him when they were alone, framing his face with her cool hands, and bring his forehead to hers. The skin on skin contact was as soothing as it had ever been, and Nathan knew that this balm of his could very well be no more very soon.

After James’ day with Juliet, which, frustratingly, and maddeningly Nathan still hadn’t been able to figure out what happened between the two kids, James had been meeting Nathan, Audrey, and Duke every day to go through any and all research on Haven they could get their hands on. They all were working on rotating shifts, so someone was constantly looking for answers, but it had been two weeks, and they didn’t seem to be any further ahead than they were when they began, and The Hunter was only a week away.

Over the course of the two weeks they had managed to go through every legend written of Haven, including spending countless hours trying to decipher a journal by Sebastian Cabot, that for some unknown reason wasn’t written in English, making it infinitely more difficult, and ultimately, a dead end. The horseshoe crab with human eyes they found in the journal however, was now a joke between the adults, and Nathan had the feeling the crabs would make an appearance somehow during Halloween.

But after going over so many journals, and books, and newspaper clippings, Nathan now knew more about his small town than he ever imagined he would know. Sometimes late at night when they were alone in bed together, Audrey would tease him that he could become the crazy town historian if he ever decided to retire from the police force. When she did, he would pull her close, kiss the side of her head, and tell her he was only crazy for her. It was a cheesy line, and he had told it to her countless times, but it still made her giggle, so he kept on saying it.

Right now however, he was not in bed alone with her, so he had to shake that memory from his head. Instead, she was at home alone with Juliet, while he was burning the midnight oil with Duke. James was catching some sleep, and the thrown stapler hadn’t even registered with him. Nathan knew James was tired, but then, they all were. All he wanted to do was go home, crawl into bed with Audrey and forget about the world, but he couldn’t do that. He needed to fight for her – for his family – so he needed to focus. Focus, focus, focus.

“Ok, here’s a question for you.”

But that focus was broken with Duke’s words, so he looked over at his friend. “Shoot.”

“So, we’ve determined that the Troubles have been around for what, 500 years? And starting in at least the early 1900s, but I would bet hard money it happened before that as well, a woman has mysteriously appeared in town, and then subsequently disappeared, resulting in the Troubles being gone for 27 years.”

“Duke, stop wasting time. That’s pretty much the first thing we determined.”

Duke looked up from his spot on the floor, his lap covered in yellowing newspaper clippings. “No, hear me out here. Every single time, the mysterious woman has come, and gone, and the cycle continued. This cycle continued without change every single time until 37 years ago. Thirty seven years ago, a man also disappeared along with the mysterious woman. And then ten years ago, a man disappeared, but the mysterious woman remained.”

“Duke, she’s not a mysterious woman. She’s Audrey.”

“Right, but think about it. Why did the cycle change after all this time? What was different?”

Nathan pulled his hand down his face, trying to force himself to focus on what Duke was saying. “What was different?”

“Yeah.”

What was different? The answer was obvious, so that couldn’t be what Duke was looking for, was it? “James.”

Duke pointed a finger at Nathan and shook it, and then switched the hand signal into a thumbs up. “Exactly. Good deductive reasoning, Chief.”

At Nathan’s scowl, Duke continued. “Think about it. We know that Lucy had found a way to end the Troubles, right? And because she had, she ran. She was out of here, Nathan. And if she kept running, neither of us would ever have met Audrey. But she was drawn back here. She somehow already knew the Barn would save James, and placed him in it months before she was drawn back here. Why, we’re not sure, but she was. Lucy was the one who knew everything. She somehow figured out the secrets of the Barn. The answers are out there, Nathan. We just need to find them, and I’m pretty sure that son of yours is part of those answers, because he’s the only one who has changed the cycle in a few centuries.”

That small bubble of hope that had popped in Nathan’s chest weeks ago, was suddenly back. Duke was right. Lucy had figured it out, and if she had figured it out, he and Duke damn well could figure it out.  And James was a key, but a key to what? “Ok, ok. So, Lucy. She was a journalist, right?”

“We’re not sure about that. We’ve assumed that because of her photo in the Herald, but it’s not like Vince and Dave are the most trustworthy of information providers.”

“I know. Which is exactly why we haven’t included them in this. They’ve proven themselves to be more of a hindrance than a help more than once. But ok, if Lucy was a journalist, she would have been pouring over the Herald…”

“…which we’ve done.”

“Right. But she also had some kind of connection with the Chief. Do you think he was giving her police information?”

Duke raised an eyebrow. “Well, you Wuornos’ certainly can’t seem to say no to Audrey, whoever she may be.”

Nathan chose to ignore Duke’s comment, and continued pacing around the room as he thought out loud. “Maybe there’s something in the old files the Chief kept on the Troubles. We haven’t even touched those yet, and since we haven’t found anything in the Herald, I’m betting that’s where Lucy found her information.”

“As much as I don’t want to say this, I’m going to say this. Do you think James is holding something back from us? He knew Lucy well. He must have known what she knew.”

Stopping in mid-pace, Nathan bowed his head to the floor, and tightly gripped his hair in both hands – at least, he assumed it was a tight grip. He had been secretly wondering the same thing, but kept pushing it aside, because James was helping them. Why would he work with them at all, if he was holding something back? There was too great a risk of slipping up. There’s no way he could know anything. “No, I can’t believe that.”

Duke watched as his friend mentally argued with himself, and knew better than to push the issue. “Yeah, you’re right. It was just a thought.” He slapped his hands down on his thighs, and pushed himself up off the floor. “Alright, where are these police files you mentioned. I think we need to go through those next.”

“They’re in the basement. I’m not sure how many are left from Lucy’s time because of the flood, but there’s got to be at least some. Come on, it’ll take a while to haul them all up here.”

“So let’s wake sleeping beauty here, and get it done.”

Nathan watched his friend as he moved towards James to wake him up. He had found another key while doing research, and it was one he had held to himself, because he didn’t know what it meant. Duke was right about one thing, there were patterns in each cycle of the Trouble – patterns that remained unbroken until Audrey and James. And there was one pattern Nathan had found that was also broken during this last round of Troubles – a pattern he himself at one point had forced his way into, but never acted upon. Looking down at the exposed tattoo on his arm, Nathan could feel himself getting distracted once again. When he traveled back to 1955 and met with Sarah, she killed Duke’s grandfather. She killed his grandfather after being told to do so by someone wearing a tattoo from the Guard. Then, in 1983, Lucy killed Duke’s father. She killed his father after being told to do so by someone wearing a tattoo from the Guard. Wouldn’t it stand to reason then, that Audrey should kill Duke? And do so after being told to do so by someone wearing a tattoo from the Guard? Maybe it was him after all who Duke had seen in his future death. Were he and Audrey supposed to kill Duke? Was that another key to ending the Troubles?

Blindly following Duke and James down the hallway, Nathan shook his head. No, that couldn’t be it. Audrey convinced him years ago Duke was not out to harm her, unlike how his father and grandfather had gone after Lucy and Sarah. It couldn’t be it. This man went out of his way to protect Juliet, and was always there for Nathan and his family. He was there for them now. But just because he was there for them, didn’t eliminate him from the pattern. The pattern was there. There was just no telling what it meant.

As they entered the basement, Nathan had to let go of his thought train, and focus instead on the boxes in front of him. “Ok, the archives should be over there. Let’s just hope more of them survived the flood than what I’m expecting.”

The three men started to dig, and piled up the boxes that were salvageable and could be of some use.

\----------------------

 “Nathan, I can’t. If this is truly going to be my last night here, I can’t eat at The Salt Shaker. I just can’t.”

“This isn’t going to be your last night here. You need to stop saying that.”

Audrey dropped her head in her hands, which were propped on her desk. If she was being honest, she felt horrible. She was exhausted, hungry, irritated, and weak. All she wanted to do, was go home, and be with her husband and daughter. As much as she didn’t want to think about it, this very well could be her last night here in Haven – well, for another 27 years anyways. They had been researching, and planning, and strategizing for three weeks around the clock, and while they had definitely made some headway, it wasn’t enough. The Hunter was arriving tomorrow, and their lives were going to change. And not in a good way. As she looked up and over at James, she had a feeling deep in her gut he was planning on sacrificing himself for her. He had never come out and said it – in fact, he had mentioned more than once he still had no plans on entering the Barn ever again – but somehow, she knew. And that knowledge was eating at her. No child should ever sacrifice for their parent. It was supposed to be the other way around. The parent was always supposed to sacrifice for their child. That’s why Sarah had given him up for adoption, because she knew he wasn’t safe being in Haven without her. That’s why Lucy had come back to Haven after running away to go back into the Barn, because she had figured out – as had Nathan and Duke – that James was somehow the key to the Troubles, and therefore needed to be saved, so she sacrificed her freedom to join James in the Barn. And now, as Audrey, Audrey knew she too, would have to make that same sacrifice. She would have to sacrifice herself so her two kids could be safe. One could again live Trouble free, while both would be protected by the strongest man on the planet – their father.

As if he could feel her eyes on him, James looked up and made eye contact with his mother. “Why don’t you guys go home. I’ll stay here and keep looking. We’ve got to be close. Knowing I’m somehow the key, and Lucy had something going, at least the research is narrowed down, so there’s less to look at. Something is in here. I’ll find it. Besides, you look terrible.”

“Gee, thanks. Just what every woman wants to hear.”

James shook his head. “No, I mean it. Go and get some food. I’ll call Duke to bring something over for me.”

Audrey took in a deep breath because even though someone was telling her to do exactly what she wanted to be doing, she still felt guilty for leaving, and needed it to look like she was mulling over the suggestion before she finally nodded. “I don’t want to leave you, but I honestly don’t think I’m going to be of much use anymore. And I really need to pick up Juliet from the Gull before any of the guys drag her into a poker game. They say they’re not playing with real money, but I have my doubts. I’ve found more money in her piggy bank than what should be there.”

“You’re going through her piggy bank now?”

Nathan’s words had Audrey smiling, which were why he said them. “I’m her mother. I’m allowed to do whatever I want.”

Nathan snorted, and moved towards Audrey’s desk, holding his hand out to her. “That you are. Come on, let’s go get Juliet and some groceries. I’ll cook.”

With one more look towards James, Audrey stood up and took Nathan’s hand. As they neared their son, she bent down and hugged him where he sat, placing a feather light kiss on his head. “You make sure to get some sleep too, ok?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

\-------------

As Nathan cleared the table and washed the dishes, Audrey tucked Juliet into bed.

“Mommy, why are you crying?”

Audrey brushed her fingers across her eyes, pulling the tears away. “Sorry, baby girl. Mommy just had a long day and is tired.” Audrey bent down to place a kiss on her daughter’s forehead before leaning back to pull her blankets up to tuck beneath her chin. How could she tell her daughter she was crying because this could very well be the last time she would ever be able to tuck her in at night? That this could be the last night she would read her a story, and the last night to kiss her on the forehead? Her heart was shattering into a million pieces, and it was taking every ounce of strength she still had in her to keep the tears at bay. She could never tell her daughter all of those things. No, she needed to act as though tonight was the same as every other night, and tomorrow morning would be the same as any other morning. She couldn’t dwell on the fact that Juliet’s afternoon would never be the same – or that her life would ever be the same. She couldn’t dwell on the fact that Duke would probably be the one to pick Juliet up at school, and would have to take her to her broken father, who would have to explain to his baby girl where her mother had gone.

With one last kiss, Audrey stood up. “Sleep well, baby girl. Don’t let the bed bugs bite.”

“Goodnight, Mommy.”

Audrey turned out the light, and watched as the little girl rolled over onto her side. She stood there watching as Juliet’s breathing evened out, and knew she was asleep. This could be the last night she would ever see her baby girl sleep.

A pair of arms snaked around her body and landed on her stomach, pulling her backwards. And in the embrace of her husband, Audrey allowed her tears to fall. No longer could she hold them back, and no longer did she want to. Her world was coming to an end, just as it had 10 years ago, but this time, the stakes were so much higher. Her world was so much bigger, but it would end just the same, and this time, it would really end, and it was too much to her.

Audrey rarely cried, so whenever she did, Nathan could feel a fist clutching his heart, and tonight, that fist felt strong enough to crush his heart. Turning his wife in his arms so she faced him, Nathan held her close as sobs wracked her body. He could feel her tears soaking his shirt, but he didn’t care. The only thing that mattered in this moment was Audrey. So, he stood holding her, allowing his own tears to fall as he tried to accept the fact that once again, he had failed her. Once again, he was not strong enough to stop the Troubles, and once again this woman in front of him was already accepting of her fate, and he wasn’t strong enough to let her go. So he didn’t. He kept holding her, and he wasn’t sure if it was minutes or hours before they moved.

Finally, he felt her body push away from his, but still, he held her close. He looked down into her tear soaked eyes, which were now puffy from crying, and he lifted the hem of his shirt to wipe her running nose. When she spoke, his throat felt raw, and it was only because she was asking him of something that he was able to do anything.

“Nathan, make love to me. I need to feel something tonight.”

He crushed his lips to hers, tasting the salt of her tears. It was all too much, but she needed him, and he needed her, so he scooped her up into his arms and carried her into their bedroom, determined to make her feel everything tonight.


	27. When the World Falls Down

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Totally don’t own these characters, or this world. I just like to be a part of it.
> 
> Author’s Notes: We’re sticking to the future timeline here, kids.
> 
> I do believe we’re starting to scream into the finish line here.
> 
> Here’s the promised Tuesday update!

** When the World Falls Down **

With his eyes closed, Nathan leaned back in his chair to take a few moments to bask in the warmth of the sun, and lose himself in the sounds of the waves softly crashing on the beach in front of him. He could hear the odd cry of a seagull, but other than the sounds of the waves, pretty much the only sound around him was that of a few small children squealing and giggling as they played in the shallow waves lapping up on shore. With his eyes still closed, Nathan allowed himself to imagine those squeals and giggles were coming from his own children – children he could now have since the Troubles were gone, and he had a wife by his side. Speaking of his wife…

Nathan slowly opened his eyes, giving them time to adjust to the bright sun, which was made infinitely brighter by bouncing off the sand and surf, to look at his wife.  She was stretched out on her stomach on the lounge chair beside his, feet propped where her back and head should be, and her head facing out towards the water – she never did conform to expectations.

Her nose was stuck in a book which he assumed was a trashy romance novel, and she had clearly tuned out the world around her. It was so good to just see her relax, and during the past week of their vacation, she had been more relaxed than he had ever seen her. Sure, she was able to relax some after the Troubles went away, but life still happened. Here, nothing happened. Here, it was only them, the people they chose to talk to at the resort, and lots of sand, sun, and surf. It was one of the main reasons he decided to whisk her away in the dead of winter. Haven could survive without them, so he took the opportunity to take her away whenever he could.

Her skin had been darkening each day they were here, with only the tiny patches her string bikini hid managing to stay light. Each night, he would trace the ever darkening lines with his tongue, driving both of them wild, and he vowed to whisk her away to a tropical paradise every winter so he was able to recreate this experience year after year.

As if sensing his eyes were on her, she paused in her reading, and turned back to grin at him. “What are you looking at?”

“You.”

He watched as a blush creeped along her skin, and her grin turned into a smile. He loved making her blush. He loved making her smile. He loved her.

“I love you.”

“I love you too, Nathan.”

“Come here.” He reached out his hand towards her, and beckoned towards himself.

“Nathan, it’s hot, and, I’m reading.”

“There isn’t anything happening in that book that I can’t make happen.”

He watched as she lifted an eyebrow.

“Your humbleness is astounding.” She turned back to her book, and he knew without a doubt, she was no longer able to concentrate on what was happening on the pages of her book, because the pages weren’t turning as fast as they once were. No, now she was staying on the exact same page, and he knew instead of reading, she was replaying in her mind what she and him had already been up to on this trip, and thinking about what they could be up to. He knew her body better than she did now, and the flush creeping up her back right now was giving her thoughts away. And he loved it. She turned back to look at him once more, then back to her book, which she quickly shut with a loud sigh. Standing up, with her book in one hand, she held out her other towards him. “Alright, let’s see what you can make happen.”

His face exploded in a knowing grin, and as he stood up, he noticed a couple of males walking down the beach a few steps away from their lounge chairs, both of whom blatantly looked her up and down before whispering to each other. As they kept gawking, he pulled her close to him, and crushed his lips to hers, letting their tongues dance, and sending a promise of what was to come once they got back to their room.

When he broke away, she licked her lips, and silently pulled him in the direction of their room.

\--------------------------

The flash of light in the room is what woke Nathan up initially from his dream of his and Audrey’s first real vacation as a married couple, but as he heard a distant boom in the distance, he was wide awake. A quick glance at the bedside clock told him it was just after two in the morning, so he at least managed to get a few hours of sleep under his belt. He knew he would need much more than that, but then, he hadn’t been sleeping much anyways. How could he? Another flash and distant boom had Nathan swallowing a gulp of fear.

Please be a thunderstorm, please be a thunderstorm, please be a thunderstorm.

He kept the internal chant up as he extricated himself from Audrey, whom he had wrapped himself around at some point during the night, and as he walked out of the room towards the front window. He pulled back the drapes, and felt his heart sink a little as he looked at the ground. It wasn’t wet. Which meant it wasn’t raining, which meant…

Another streak of light lit up the sky as Nathan tried to convince himself that thunderstorms could easily happen without rain, but that streak of light was no bolt of lightning. And that distant boom was no rumble of thunder.

It was here. The Hunter was here.

They were out of time.

He could feel waves of nausea roll through his body, and he had to sit down. No, it couldn’t be. They needed more time. They hadn’t figured out how to stop this yet. He finally had his entire family together, and they were working together, and now they were going to be torn apart. Again.

Nathan dropped his head in his hands and just sat for a few moments, trying to calm his breathing. He couldn’t let this happen. There had to be a way. There just had to be.

He needed to work. That’s what he needed to do. But first, he needed the anchor of his family. Nathan stood up, and walked into Juliet’s room, and saw her practically spread eagled on the bed, with all her covers kicked off, and Peanut snuggled up beside her. Smiling to himself, Nathan bent down to pick up her blankets, and covered her with them, making sure not to bury Peanut as he did so. As he pulled the blankets up, he noticed an ugly purple bruise on her shin, and he carefully traced the mark. She obviously had run into something on the playground, but at least it didn’t hurt. There was one advantage to not being able to feel anything.

With the covers now better covering her, Nathan brushed a stray lock of hair from Juliet’s face, and leaned down to kiss her. When she didn’t even move, he sighed. His own daughter wasn’t able to feel him, and it broke his heart knowing it was his fault she was like this. At least she would be able to feel again in a few days, no matter what happens. But she might no longer have her mother here, and without her mother, would it even matter if she could feel? Nathan knew for a fact he would willingly go the rest of his life without feeling anything if that meant Audrey would still be there. But he wasn’t sure a little girl would have the same choice. Would she? How could she make a choice as monumental as that?

Nathan sat and watched his little girl sleep, her chest rising and falling in perfect rhythm. He and Audrey had managed to protect her for only six years, and now, her life was going to be torn apart no matter what happened mere hours from now. Nathan trailed his fingers down her cheek again, and the sensation he got from her skin still took him aback. With Audrey, it was always sensory overload, but with Juliet, it was just…there.

After leaning down to kiss her on the forehead one more time, Nathan stood up and quietly walked out of the room, making sure the light from the hallway still leaked into her room. He turned towards his room and sighed. His everything was in that room, and he was petrified that very soon, that everything would no longer be there. He didn’t want to believe it, and didn’t even want to think it, but, he had to. It was a possibility – one he would like to ignore, but history has proven he couldn’t. Before heading in the room however, Nathan sidetracked over towards his laptop so he could keep researching while Audrey slept. He needed to be with her, so he would sit next to her and work.

With computer in hand, he entered their room, and set the computer on the chair by the bed. He had to move a pile of her clothes first, and could only smile. Before he met Audrey, his house was never the cleanest, but definitely had some sense of order to it. But then she came in and was like a freight train running over him. No matter how many times he would bring up her inability to put clothes away, she would still leave them out, and he was pretty sure she did it now just to get a rise out of him. Shaking his head and snorting softly, he sorted the clothes, and put the dirty ones in the laundry basket, while draping the clean ones over the back of the chair. He would rather have put them away, but was afraid of waking her up.

With the task done, he knelt down beside the bed, so he could look directly into her face. She had turned over since he left her, and was now facing him again. So apt. Delicately, he tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, and cupped her face as he felt her lean into his touch. Even in her sleep, she was drawn to him, and it melted his heart. How was he ever going to live without this? He couldn’t. He knew he couldn’t. He needed to fix this.

The light coming from the hallway illuminated the room just enough that he could see how pale she was. It was starting to concern him, to be honest. The past couple of weeks had been unbearably stressful, but Nathan had noticed that the stress seemed to have been taking an even greater toll on Audrey than he would have expected. He caught her a few times napping in the office, and she seemed to be eating less and less. And of course, Audrey being Audrey, she had simply brushed off his concern, telling him she was just stressed, and nothing more. And really, he couldn’t refute that, because he was stressed too.

But at least here, in sleep, she was safe. She was in their bed, in their home, and under his watchful eye. And for at least the next few hours, nothing could harm her. The room lit up again with another streaking meteor, and Nathan tore himself away from her warm skin, and settled back in the chair to work, making sure to keep an eye on his sleeping wife.

As the first rays of dawn started to scatter through the room, Nathan had to stop himself from throwing his laptop across the room in frustration. The only thing that forced him to hold on, was knowing he would wake Audrey if he threw it, and she needed her sleep. She would kill him for letting her sleep while he was up and working, but she hadn’t slept this long in a while, and would need her rest, so he let her sleep. If the increase in meteors throughout the early morning were any indication of what was to come, today was the day when life would change.

To try to make the day as normal as he could, for as long as he could, Nathan stood and moved towards the kitchen. He was going to make pancakes.

Predictably enough, the smell of breakfast cooking roused his daughter and dog, and the two of them came in looking for their food. Smiling at their eagerness, Nathan plated dishes for them both, and put on a pot of coffee. If the smell of pancakes and bacon couldn’t get Audrey out of bed, the smell of coffee definitely would.

Nathan soon got lost in the tall tales of his daughter’s dreams she had last night, and not so subtly finally pushed her towards her room to get ready for school. He couldn’t decide if sending her to school today was the right thing to do, but he knew he and Audrey would be running all over town, and having to worry about Juliet would not help. She would be safer at school.

Looking at the clock, Nathan realized he would have to drive Juliet to school soon, and Audrey still wasn’t awake. He didn’t want to leave her sleeping alone, and didn’t have the heart to wake her up to tell her he was leaving, so he decided to call Duke instead.

“Duke.”

“Nathan.”

“I’m sorry this is such short notice, but can you take Juliet to school this morning? Audrey is still sleeping, and I don’t want to wake her.”

“No problem.”

Nathan waited as Duke paused.

“Have you looked outside yet this morning?”

Nathan sighed. “Yes. The Hunter’s here.”

“Audrey doesn’t know?”

Nathan turned and looked towards his bedroom and shook his head. “No, she slept through the whole night for a change. She’ll know soon enough. I want her to stay oblivious for as long as possible.”

Duke sighed through the phone. “Yeah. I’ll be there in 10 minutes.”

“Thanks, Duke.”

After hanging up the phone, Nathan turned to get Juliet’s lunch ready. Just as he was finishing packing her bag, he heard a soft knock at the door. Upon opening it, Duke stood on the porch and gave a small wave. “Crocker Delivery Services at your disposal.”

Nathan snorted, and waved Duke in. “She’s just getting ready. Let me go get her.”

Duke nodded, and stood to wait as Nathan disappeared into the hallway. He could see Juliet’s lunch bag and backpack sitting by the door, so he gathered them up. After spying her rain jacket, he grabbed that too, knowing that this day was going to bring a lot of storms. And thinking about the storms, he was mildly surprised Juliet was even going to school today. Apparently meteor showers didn’t faze the good citizens of Haven enough to consider keeping the kids home from school. Only in Haven.

“Why can’t I say goodbye to Mommy?”

“Because she’s sleeping, baby girl. But look, Uncle Duke is here to take you to school!”

Duke couldn’t help but grin at Juliet’s squeal of delight, and braced himself as she launched her tiny body into his legs for a hug. “Uncle Duke!” She still wasn’t used to not being able to feel the force of her hug, and he had to quickly grip her to prevent her from bouncing off and falling to the floor.

“Hey, Bug. You ready?”

Pulling away from Duke, Juliet looked up at her favorite uncle. “Uh huh. But, have you seen those things in the sky? Daddy said they’re called meteors and that we’d probably learn about them at school today.”

Duke turned and watched as Juliet headed out the door towards his truck, babbling the entire way. He shook his head and grinned. “She’s really her mother, isn’t she? Once something captures her attention, nothing else matters.”

Nathan forced a smile to his face. “More than you know.”

Leaning his head out the door, Duke yelled in Juliet’s direction. “Hey, Bug! Aren’t you going to say goodbye to your Daddy?”

“Bye, Daddy!”

Nathan followed Duke out of the door, and shook his head at his little girl. She didn’t even stop to look at him, but just kept moving while talking about meteors. She didn’t even care that no one was listening to her.

Duke turned back towards Nathan before heading out to the truck. “I’ll be back in about an hour, and we can figure this all out, ok?”

Nathan could only nod, and waved at his little girl who was jiggling from foot to foot, waiting for Duke to come open the door for her. Satisfied she was on her way, Nathan took one more look at the falling sky before turning back into the house. Where was Peanut? Now that he thought about it, he hadn’t seen the dog since he helped Juliet finish her pancakes.

Moving through the kitchen, Nathan plated some pancakes and bacon for Audrey, covered them, and put them in the fridge. He would make her eggs when she was up and moving around, because re-heated eggs just didn’t cut it. But, looking at the clock, as much as he didn’t want to, he was going to have to wake her up, because the morning was starting to get away from them. He took a deep breath, and moved back towards the bedroom. And found Peanut.

“Hey buddy, what are you doing?”

Nathan watched as Peanut looked up from where he was lying at Audrey’s feet, and then walked up towards the head of the bed, sitting next to Audrey’s head. He started to whimper, and Nathan could feel his blood run cold.

“Peanut, what’s wrong? Audrey? It’s time to get up, baby.”

Nathan moved towards Audrey, who hadn’t moved an inch since she had turned over in the early hours of the morning. He could see a thin sheen on sweat on her face, and as he brushed a hand along her forehead, he realized her skin was cold and clammy. He forced a swallow down his throat, and moved his hand to Audrey’s shoulder, giving her a small shake.

She didn’t move.

Peanut started nervously pacing beside Audrey’s head, whining as he moved, but Nathan ignored him. Something was wrong. Really wrong.

Nathan pushed on Audrey’s shoulder so she rolled to her back, and he grabbed both her shoulders, shaking her more vigorously. “Audrey! Audrey, wake up. Audrey!”

Nathan’s vision started to waver, and he was fairly positive he was having a panic attack. He forced himself to focus, and shook Audrey again. “Audrey!”

The movement finally seemed to rouse her, and she opened her mouth to speak. “Nathan.” Her voice came out as a garbled sound, and it sounded weak.

“We need to get you to a hospital. Audrey, you need to wake up.” Nathan grabbed a hold of the duvet she was huddled under, and threw it off her naked body, forcing Peanut to leap to the floor. He circled around and started dancing at Nathan’s feet, whining as he moved. But Nathan ignored him, instead sweeping his eyes over his wife, and even though he couldn’t feel it, he knew his heart stopped. The bed where she had been lying, and her upper legs were covered in blood.

“No! No, no, no.” Nathan reached down and swiped his fingers through the blood. He rubbed his fingers together, and the blood was warm and tacky. It was fresh. “No, no, no. Audrey, no.” What was wrong? They had had sex last night, but he didn’t hurt her, did he? He couldn’t have. Last night was amazing. It was slow, and sweet. It wasn’t rough, and there is no way she should be bleeding because of it. He reached down to Audrey’s shoulders again and shook her. “Audrey, wake up. Baby, please, please wake up.”

He needed to get her to the hospital. No longer was he worried about The Hunter. No longer was he worried about the Barn. No longer was he worried about the future of Haven. No, he was frantic about his wife.  Grabbing his cellphone, he quickly dialed Duke.

“Duke! Something’s wrong with Audrey, I’m taking her to the hospital. Can you meet me there?”

“What? What’s wrong with her?”

Nathan could hear the panic in Duke’s voice, and knew it was mirroring his own. “I don’t know. I’m leaving now.”

Nathan hung up the phone and turned back to Audrey. She was starting to come around, which eased his worry by a tiny fraction. “Audrey, I’m taking you to the hospital. We need to get you dressed.” Moving with a sense of purpose, Nathan picked out an old t-shirt of his, and a pair of his boxers. He didn’t want her to ruin any of her clothes. Before returning to her side, he moved into the bathroom, and soaked a towel, which he brought back with him. “Audrey, I’m just going to clean you up a bit. Then we need to get to the hospital.”

At her weak nod, Nathan methodically started wiping down her legs, trying not to dwell on how much blood there was. He threw the towel to the ground, not caring about it at all, and put his arms around Audrey’s shoulders so he could carefully lift her into a sitting position. As he looked at her, he could see she was now conscious, but her eyes were glassy, making him even more worried. With one hand holding her up, he pulled the t-shirt over her head with the other. “Ok, baby, you need to sit up on your own while I get your arms in the shirt, ok?”

She nodded, and he slowly let her go, so he could concentrate on getting the shirt put on properly. “Ok, swing over so you’re sitting on the edge of the bed here, then I can put your shorts on.” With her legs swung over the side, Nathan knelt down to put her feet through the holes of his boxers, and pulled them up as far as he could before the bed halted his progress. “Ok, now stand up. Hold on to my shoulders for support.”

She did as she was told, enabling him to pull the shorts up so she was covered. Her silence was haunting him, but he needed to just keep moving. He couldn’t stop. He couldn’t think. If he did, he would collapse. Nathan stood up, and easily picked her up, cradling her in his arms. Her head fell against his chest, allowing him to feel his rapid heartbeat. He needed to get her to the hospital.

During the car ride over, Nathan could tell Audrey had fully woken up, but she still wasn’t talking. She just kept staring out the window, and he knew she was watching the meteors fall. They were getting closer to town, and he knew they were running out of time. But time didn’t matter. All that mattered was getting Audrey better. As he parked, she moved to get out of the truck, but he put a hand on his arm to stop her. Nathan quickly jumped out of the truck, and ran around to her side, opened the door, and pulled her into his arms once again. As he walked towards the door, he could feel something sticky on his arm, and knew she was still bleeding.

Bursting through the doors, the first person he saw was Duke. It was amazing how fast that man could get to places, regardless of how small the town was.

“Nathan! God, Audrey! What’s wrong with her?”

Nathan looked at his friend as he pulled Audrey closer to his body. He was 90% sure he knew what was wrong with Audrey, but he couldn’t say it out loud. He couldn’t say it without breaking, so he just shook his head.

Duke seemed to understand, and motioned towards the nurse’s station. “I beat you here, so I alerted them to your arrival. Things are getting bad out there Nathan, so they were going to make you wait. But, thankfully you have some leverage in this town.”

Nathan nodded his thanks, moved towards the station, and immediately was presented with a wheelchair for Audrey. He shook it off, not wanting to let her go until absolutely necessary. “I’ll carry her. Just lead the way.”

The nurse looked as though she was going to argue, but chose to keep her thoughts to herself, and instead walked on ahead. Nathan followed her into a room, and carefully laid Audrey down on the bed. He noticed the nurse’s eyes widening as she saw the blood on Nathan’s arm, but she merely said she would get the doctor in immediately.

“Nathan, your arm.” Nathan stood next to the bed, firmly clutching Audrey’s hand, willing the doctor to get in the room immediately.

“It’s nothing, don’t worry about it.”

“Is that from…me?”

Before he could answer, a flurry of activity sounded at the door, and Nathan turned to see Dr. Adler. With her presence, Nathan breathed out a sigh of relief. She had been their doctor for years now, and always knew what to do.

“Nathan, Audrey, what’s going on? I got here as soon as I heard it was the two of you in here.”

Fear was threatening to close his throat, but Nathan kept moving. He had to keep moving. If he thought about the fear, it would overtake him.

 “She’s…she’s bleeding. There’s so much blood.”

Nathan watched as Dr. Adler quickly scanned Audrey with her eyes, stopping when she could see the source of the blood. She turned to her assistant and quietly said something before turning back to Nathan and Audrey.

“Audrey, I can’t be sure until I run some tests, but, I think you may be having a miscarriage.”

No! No, no, no, no. The fear inside Nathan was almost consuming him. No, this couldn’t be. Not now. Not today. Not ever. No, no, no, no. He could dully feel Audrey clutching him tightly with both her hands. He looked down at her through blurry eyes and could see tears streaming down her face. No! Why was this happening? She was pregnant? How far along was she? Is that why she had been so tired lately? Did she know and not tell him? God, if he had known, he would have made her rest more often. This could all be his fault. If only he had known.

As several instruments were wheeled into the tiny room, and the nurses worked to attach various things to Audrey, Nathan could only watch with detachment. His world was completely crashing down around him, and the irony of the situation wasn’t lost on him as another meteor streaked across the sky. He looked up and tried to breathe. He had to stay strong. He had to stay strong for Audrey. His feelings didn’t matter right now. Only she did.

When he felt Audrey tugging on his hand, bringing him back to the here and now, Nathan looked down at his wife, and leaned in as tugged him towards her lips. She angled his head so she could whisper in his ear.

“Get me out of here Nathan. Take me to the Barn. If you put me in, I can save our child, and our town.”

Nathan ripped away from her, and stumbled back a couple of steps. At her pleading look, Nathan felt his world shift, and he sunk to his knees to stop himself from passing out.

 


	28. The End is Nigh

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Totally don’t own these characters, or this world. I just like to be a part of it.
> 
> Author’s Notes: We’re sticking to the future timeline here, kids.
> 
> So, originally I was going to have this as the final chapter, but it started getting away from me, so I’m breaking it up into two chapters.
> 
> Here’s the promised Tuesday update!

** The End is Nigh **

  
His entire life, Duke had been morbidly interested in what Nathan's breaking point would be. From the sidelines - and sometimes, the front row - Duke had been witness to the torments of Nathan's life. Life had been cruel to Nathan Wuornos, and no one who knew him would ever debate that fact. He was born to a vicious man - one so vile, people forced him from their minds. But that hadn't broken him. His age more than likely played a major factor in that, but regardless, he hadn't broken. 

 

He then lost his mother. Losing a parent at any age is difficult, but losing a parent who was also your best friend is devastating. And it was only worse when the child is barely old enough to be in school. But again, that hadn't broken him. Somehow, he continued on. 

 

Then the Troubles arrived, and he was afflicted by one of the most devastating. One which affected only him, and left him isolated from the world. That alone should have broken him, but he continued on. Even when his adoptive father started treating him horribly - to toughen Nathan up, it was believed – he still didn't break. And then when the tormenting continued at school - and yes, Duke was now ashamed to admit he was the instigator- and Nathan literally had nowhere safe to turn, still, he didn't break. 

 

His life did smooth out for a while - the Troubles disappeared, and he was able to grow up, take a girl to prom, leave town, go to college, and do what college kids do. But then, he decided to return to Haven. Every native of Haven seemed to return, no matter how much they hated this god forsaken town. It must be part of the curse. And when he returned, he followed in his adoptive father's footsteps and joined the Haven PD. The Chief continued to treat him like dirt - under the pretenses of toughening Nathan up. At the time, it seemed harsh, but years later, when the Troubles returned, it might have been what kept Nathan going longer than any other man. 

 

And boy, did the Troubles ever return. The cruel hand of life dealt to Nathan Wuornos again came up swinging. Nathan was the first in town to have his Trouble return, and it was at the hands of his supposed friend. Duke felt regret for that day, but, it was almost like fate. Fate couldn't resist giving Nathan a shitty deal. But still, he didn't break. Instead, he continued on, just voluntarily isolating himself from the world. 

 

Then she arrived, and caused Nathan to fall in love. Not puppy, high school love, but deep, soul finding love - the kind of love which only seemingly existed in romance novels and fictional TV shows. They seemed to be heading toward fate, but she pushed him away. Told him he wasn't worth it. Even then he didn't break. 

 

And then somehow, somehow his perseverance rewarded him, and she didn't leave. No, she stayed and built a life with him - a life Nathan dreamed of having since he was little and began to realize how shitty his life was. Once again, fate smoothed over for him. 

 

But then, it reared its ugly head, and once again, his Trouble returned. But this time, his young daughter was afflicted after having a vicious accident. But still, he didn't break. 

 

He didn't break as his life began to spiral further and further into the clutches of fate. He stayed strong for his family, and stayed together through it all. 

 

But fate had finally broken Nathan. His breaking point had been reached, and Duke, for once in his life, was at a loss as to what to do. His one constant in life was his friend's consistency, and that consistency had been shattered. And as he stumbled while picking his friend off the floor, catching a glimpse of Audrey's tortured look, Duke felt lost, and couldn't for the life of him, bring the world into focus. Everything was muddled, and far away. The only thing concrete was the dead weight of his friend in his arms. All he knew was that he needed to get this dead weight off the floor. 

 

When Nathan had carried Audrey into the depths of the hospital, Duke decided to stay in the waiting room. As much as he cared about his friends, he knew this was a private moment between the two of them, and he didn't need to intrude. So instead, he paced the small room, taking mental notes of the increasing in severity of injuries which were coming in. He saw the woman named Jennifer from Boston, whom he had talked to a few times over the past couple of weeks. She was intriguing, but he didn't have time to invest in her right now. But as she walked by, helping a friend who had a deep shrapnel wound in her leg, he felt himself wanting to go with her. But, he couldn't. He didn't know her well enough yet, and his friends were who were important right now. 

 

His hair must have been sticking out in all directions by now, because with each lap of the waiting room, he shoved his fingers through his hair, trying in vain to ward off his anxiety. 

 

And then he heard the strangled cry coming from the direction of where Nathan had carried Audrey, and Duke took off running. He didn't heed the shouting of the desk nurse, and instead barreled down the hallways. Because he ran, he made it to the door to see Nathan drop to his knees, and Duke knew without a doubt, his morbid curiosity of Nathan's breaking point had finally been sated. His friend had broken.

 

And he needed to fix him. 

 

"Nathan! Nathan! What happened?" Duke swung his attention from Nathan's haunted face towards Audrey, quickly taking in her similar appearance, before looking at the doctor. "What happened?"

 

"Sir, you can't be in here right now." 

 

Duke scowled at Dr. Adler. While he always appreciated her professionalism, he knew her far better than anyone in this room realized, and now was not the time for her to pretend she didn't know him. And thankfully, she seemed to understand that.

 

"Duke, you can't be here."

 

"Like hell, I can't. What happened? What's going on?" Duke looked back to Nathan and shook him a little. "Nathan! Snap out of it."

 

Duke felt a light touch on his arm, and he looked over to Dr. Adler, who had rested her hand on his arm. “Duke, can you take Nathan to the room next door? I need to run some tests on Audrey, and the less people in here, the better.”

He looked over to Audrey, and felt sick to his stomach with the look she was giving him, but he tore his eyes away to look back at Dr. Adler and nodded. “I can do that. Come on, Nathan.”

“I’ll be by to look at him in a few minutes, but I think he just needs some rest and fluids. I’ll have a nurse come by soon to give him something.”

Duke nodded his head in thanks, and then half dragged, half carried Nathan out the door and around the corner to the next room. He knew without a doubt if his friend was in any sort of his right mind, he would be screaming bloody murder about being taken away from Audrey, and the fact he wasn’t was only furthering to increase the unease Duke was feeling.

Once he had Nathan settled on the hospital bed, Duke backed out of the room, and pulled his cell phone out of his pants. This wasn’t going to be an easy call. When his call was answered, Duke pulled in a deep breath while combing his fingers through his hair.

“James.”

“Duke, what’s going on? Where is everyone? Do you not see what’s going on outside? We’re running out of time, and I can’t get a hold of anyone.”

“Kid, look, I know. Stop for a second.”

When James paused, Duke continued on. “I’m at the hospital with your parents.”

“Is Juliet ok?”

The fact that Juliet was James’ first worry somehow made Duke feel better. He was always a little uneasy about the relationship James was building with his kid sister, especially since no one had been able to fully figure out what happened during the day the two had spent together. But, over the past few weeks, James had been going out of his way to spend time with Juliet, and Duke respected that. He was protective of her though, and so would always be suspicious of any male entering her life. God save any boy who actually wanted to date her when the time came. Not only would he have to go through Nathan, but he would have to go through Duke, who was more than willing to use some not so legal methods to extract information, and for general intimidation. Sometimes the unknown was a lot scarier than a visible gun.

Thankfully, that scenario was years from now. There was a different situation happening right now. “Juliet is fine. She’s at school.”

“She’s what? Does no one in this town understand the sky is literally falling?”

Duke snorted. While he was still unsure of James, the kid did have the ability to state the obvious. “They apparently feel that’s not worthy of a day off. No, Juliet is fine. It’s your parents. Uh, Audrey and Nathan.” It still felt weird talking to James about Nathan and Audrey as his parents. Duke was never really sure what to address them as in front of James.

“What’s wrong with them?”

Straight to the point. Duke could deal with that. “I’m not 100% positive what’s wrong with Audrey, but Nathan collapsed after rushing her to the hospital. I’m sitting with him right now waiting for a nurse to give him something to calm down. I think he had a nervous breakdown, but even that, I’m not sure.”

“Call me back when you actually know something. I’m going out to see if the Barn is here.”

“Will do.” Duke hung up, walked back in the room, and looked at his friend, whose breathing was shallow and rapid.

At that moment, a nurse came in with an IV stand, and wheeled it over towards the bed.

“What is that?”

“Dr. Adler ordered some fluids for Mr. Wuornos, and something to calm him down.”

The nurse seemed to be waiting for Duke’s approval before moving forward, and Duke wasn’t sure what to do. More than anything, Nathan needed something to help him calm down, but what if this put him out for the count for hours? The town needed him – his wife needed him for god’s sake – but knowing Audrey, she would want Nathan to be ok, and not suffering. She never wanted him to suffer. And with that thought in his head, Duke nodded, which prompted the nurse to insert the IV line into Nathan’s arm. Since he couldn’t feel it, he probably didn’t even know what was going on, because he definitely wasn’t aware of his surroundings at the moment.

Duke watched as the nurse cleaned everything up and left the room before moving forward to his friend. He would stay with him until he fell asleep, and then he would shoulder the burden of Haven. The Wuornos’ had handled the burden for so long, and it had finally become too much for them, and it was time for someone else to do it. Duke knew he couldn’t ultimately end the cycle, but he could at least carry it a few hours down the road.

Nathan’s eyes began to close as his breathing evened out, and Duke turned to leave, but was shocked to feel Nathan’s strong grip on his wrist. He turned back, and looked at his friend, whose eyes were filled with terror, even under the cloudiness of the drugs.

“Audrey is miscarrying, Duke. She wants me to put her in the Barn to save our child, and save Haven. She asked me because it makes sense, I know it makes sense, but I can’t do it. I can’t do it. I can’t lose Audrey, but I can’t let my child die. What do I do, Duke?”

Duke felt everything drain out of his body with Nathan’s words. His blood stopped pumping, his heart stopped beating, his lungs stopped breathing. No wonder Nathan had broken. Any man in this situation would have. Duke felt like he needed to sit down, but Nathan’s grip on his wrist wouldn’t allow him to move anywhere. There was no answer to this situation. There was not a single, solitary positive answer to this situation. But Nathan was imploringly looking at him, waiting for an answer. He literally did not know what to do, and was leaning on his best friend in his ultimate moment of weakness. And Duke didn’t know what to do. He looked up in the direction of Audrey’s room before looking back at Nathan. “You just pull yourself together, Nathan. I’m going to figure this out.”

He could see Nathan was being pulled under by whatever the nurse had given him, and the grip on his arm was weakening. Once Nathan was out, Duke slowly moved away from his bed, blowing out a breath of air, and raked his fingers through his hair. He still had one more Wuornos to check on, and this one was going to be much more difficult now that he knew the situation, but he couldn’t leave her on her own. Knowing her, she was fighting the doctor tooth and nail to get in to see her husband, and was neglecting her own health in the process.

Breathing in deep to steel himself, Duke left Nathan’s room, and walked to Audrey’s, and was mildly surprised to find it calm. She wasn’t arguing, she wasn’t requesting information, she was lying on her back with her head facing towards the window, obviously watching the meteors streak across the sky. When he walked in, Dr. Adler looked up from her place at Audrey’s side, made eye contact with Duke, and nodded her head towards the door. Duke understood her silent request, and he stepped back into the hall, waiting for the doctor to follow.

She pulled the door to Audrey’s room quietly closed behind her, and turned to Duke. “I’m only going to break doctor/patient confidentiality to you because I know how close you all are. Audrey has lost a lot of blood. Initially I thought she was having a miscarriage, because she displayed all of the typical signs, but we did an ultrasound, and the baby is alive. Its vital signs are weak, but it’s ok.”

Duke could feel a small sense of relief wash over him, but he knew they were all far from being out of the water. “So, what happened?”

“Honestly? This is a classic high-risk pregnancy, which is usually made worse by high-stress situations.”

A loud boom that seemed to come from right outside of the hospital made both Duke and Dr. Adler jump, causing her to pause in her description. They watched as several orderlies and nurses ran down the hall towards the door.

Once the hallway cleared, and the area seemed calmer for the moment, Dr. Adler continued. “And, while I know today is a high-stress situation, I’m sure Audrey has been involved in some stress for a few weeks leading up to this, am I correct?”

He wasn’t sure how much Dr. Adler knew about Audrey’s connection to the town and the Troubles. It wasn’t like Audrey went around advertising her background, but people talked, especially when the talk involved the police chief and his wife. But since he didn’t know, he didn’t want to be the one to break the news, so he kept it vague. “Yeah, you could say that. You know how stressful police work in Haven can be.”

Dr. Adler nodded, knowing full well Duke was being evasive. She knew him better than most people did. At times, she wondered why their relationship had never gone further than it had, but deep down, she knew certain people were made for each other, and she was not that person for Duke. There was someone else out there for him, and it wasn’t her. She accepted that, but sometimes when she saw him, she wished she could have been that person. “I do. Regardless, a lot of women experience breakthrough bleeding during the first trimester of pregnancy. Most experience very light bleeding, but some do experience a lot of blood loss, which looks very much like a miscarriage. Fortunately, this is what happened to Audrey. She was understandably upset, especially about Nathan, so I gave her a mild sedative.” Dr. Adler put up her hand to stop Duke from interrupting, and continued on. “It’s perfectly ok for the baby, and it’ll give Audrey some much needed rest, if she lets it.”

Duke blew out a breath, and looked up at the ceiling. His mind was going a million miles per minute, and he needed it to slow down so he could figure out where to go from here. The loud wails from sirens were getting closer and closer together, meaning more and more people were being brought in with injuries. The Hunter was here, and it was getting closer with every second.

“I’ll be back to check on them both in a few minutes.”

Looking back to Dr. Adler, grateful for her interruption to his thoughts, Duke nodded and walked into Audrey’s room. Thankfully, now that he knew the baby was safe, he wouldn’t have to go through with Audrey’s request to be put in the Barn. The only thing her going in the Barn would do now would be save the town, and frankly it survived the last time without her in the Barn, so technically it could this time as well.

When she didn’t move her head from its position looking out the window, Duke assumed she had fallen asleep, so took his place in a chair by her bed. He needed a few moments of quiet to gather his thoughts and his wits. As he sat down, his phone beeped with an incoming text message.

                _The Barn is here._

Duke felt his heart sink. The Barn only arrives when Audrey calls for it, and she clearly had when she told Nathan to put her in there. So that meant the cycle was in full motion, and in order to stop the cycle, either he and James needed to figure out how to stop it, or someone had to go in the Barn. He needed to call James though, he promised he would as soon as he found out what was wrong with Nathan and Audrey, but for some reason, he felt like that call was going to change things.

It had to happen though.

Sighing, Duke stood up and was about to head out the door when a voice stopped him.

“You need to get me out of here, Duke. You need to put me in the Barn.”

Duke stopped in his tracks and turned back to Audrey’s bed. She was no longer looking out the window, but rather, right at him with imploring eyes. She was silently begging him, and it was the same look she had given him all those years ago.

She had given up, and was ready to accept her fate.

“Audrey, no.”

Audrey reached out with her hand, to which Duke went willingly. She placed her hand in his and squeezed. “Duke, please. Something’s wrong with my baby, and I need to save it. I need to save Haven. Nathan doesn’t understand. It has to be you, Duke. You have to help me.”

Duke had always sworn to Audrey he would help her with anything. _Anything._ But this, this…no, he wouldn’t help with this. He pulled his hand from hers and shook his head as he took a step back. The fear and disappointment he saw in Audrey’s eyes was almost his undoing. But no, he couldn’t do this to her. He couldn’t do this to Nathan. There had to be another way.

“No, Audrey, I’m not going to put you in the Barn. You need to stay here to get better. Everything is going to be fine.”

The sound of an explosion had both of them jumping, and after looking at Duke for a few more moments, Audrey turned back towards the window to continue watching the sky fall. She was shutting him out, and he knew it. But, he could handle that. At least her shutting him out meant she was resigned to being stuck in the hospital, and that was good enough for him at the moment.

Turning once again towards the door, Duke wandered out, and pulled his phone from his pocket, and leaned up against the wall so he could be out of the way of the nurses and doctors running through the halls. Taking a deep breath, he dialed , and wasn’t surprised when his call was immediately answered.

“So?”

“Audrey’s pregnant, and had what appeared at first to be a miscarriage, but the baby is fine. She just had breakthrough bleeding, but needs to stay at the hospital. She lost a lot of blood.”

“But she’s ok?”

“She will be, but she’s pretty shaken up.” Duke breathed in deep, and let out a slow breath as he turned in a small circle, while shoving his hair out of his face. “She wants me to put her in the Barn, James. She believes it’s the only way to save the baby, and save the town. She asked Nathan to do it, which caused him to break down. He’s been put on sedatives.”

When met with utter silence, Duke pulled the phone away from his ear to see if the call had been dropped. Cell phone towers were definitely at risk at the moment, so a dropped call wouldn’t have been unheard of. However, seeing the screen still lit up, Duke tentatively put the phone back to his ear. “Hello?”

“We need to solve this. Now.”

Duke pulled the phone away from his ear once more, and could see the call was definitely disconnected this time. Why did every member of the Wuornos clan have to be so difficult?

Before heading out, Duke made sure to find Dr. Adler. “Lily.”

Dr. Adler swung around from the conversation she was having. It was so rare anyone used her first name in the hospital, but she was still annoyed at being interrupted. “Duke, what is it? Now is not a good time.”

“Yeah, I get that. I need to leave. You need to call me if anything changes with either Audrey or Nathan. I’ll be back later today.”

“If the town survives that long. It’s getting bad out there, Duke. You need to be careful.”

Duke looked at Lily deep in the eyes before nodding once. “You too.” And with that, he turned and was out the door, on his way to the police station.

\--------------------------------------

“Maybe you’re connected to this somehow.”

“Shut up, kid. Now is not the time to be screwing around.”

James sat back from the mount of paperwork in front of him. “No, think about it. You’re the only one who has a Trouble which can remove a Trouble from someone else. Maybe that means you can remove the Troubles all together?”

“I can only remove someone’s Trouble if they’re dying.”

“Yeah, but isn’t everyone dying right now?”

“It’s not the same thing. Keep looking. We’re running out of time.”

James stood up and started pacing. “No, no, there’s got to be something here. If you can take the Troubles out of a person, that means they’re a tangible thing, which can be harvested. And I bet, somehow Audrey can control those Troubles once they’re tangible – and that’s why she’s immune to them.”

Duke rolled his eyes. “Great theory, kid, but we don’t have time to test it, even if we knew where to start. And besides, Audrey is not part of the picture right now. Also, in case you’ve forgotten, my Trouble never activated.”

“Doesn’t it activate in extremely emotional situations? I feel like now is one of those situations.”

“I don’t know, it’s only happened to me once. I’m not an expert on this.”

James stared at Duke for several long moments before throwing his hands up in exasperation and walking a few paces away. “You damn Crockers are good for nothing.”

“Hey. Now is not the time, James. I have done everything for your family. I have picked up the pieces of both your parents more than once. I’ve helped them out of countless situations, and I’ve been very involved in your sister’s life from the day she was born. I’ve been thrown up on more times than I can count, which, really, is something I never would have guessed would have been part of my life, but it is. I am every bit devoted to you all, even though I don’t know why. It’s not like any of you have ever done anything for me, but blame me for something I’ve had no control over, just because my last name happens to be Crocker. I haven’t seen you be very involved in your family’s life, so you need to back the hell off.”

“I didn’t have a choice. There was no way I could be involved. That’s Audrey’s fault. It’s always Audrey’s fault. First it was Sarah’s, then Lucy’s, and then Audrey’s. You know what? Maybe she _should_ have to go in the Barn this time. Then when she gets out, she can see how awful it is to come back and see time moved on without you – that the people in your life abandoned you and moved on with their lives.”

Duke took the few short strides up to James, gathered the front of his shirt in his fist, and hauled James up so they were nose to nose. “You little punk. Your parents have done everything for you. With the way you’re talking right now, I’m tempted to knock you unconscious and throw you in the Barn myself. I know it’ll accept you. Maybe not for 27 years, but long enough that you’ll be out of my hair for a few years. It’ll give me time to figure out how to keep you away permanently the next time.” Releasing James, Duke stepped back. “But you know what? I won’t do that. Because even though I could personally not give two shits about you, I know Nathan and Audrey do, and because I care about them, I unfortunately have to care about you too.

“I could still run, you know.”

“If you do, be prepared to feel a bullet rip through your back. I know for a fact the Barn will take you if you’re dead or alive. It doesn’t care.”

The two men glowered at each other before James took in a deep breath and walked back to his pile of papers. “I still think Lucy had this figured out to an extent.” James continued flipping through pages of one of the journals they found as if the argument with Duke had never happened. “Maybe these tear thingies that we keep seeing in here have something to do with the Troubles. The Troubles clearly can’t come from Earth, so they must come from somewhere else. Maybe whatever these tears are, are home to the Troubles? Maybe we could shove the Troubles through one of them.”

“James, I personally have driven out to locations where these things supposedly are, and I didn’t see a thing. They’re just a fairy tale – like most of the stuff we’re reading. I mean, come on, horseshoe crabs with human eyes? I’ve never seen those in Haven, and we never will. So these tear thingies are the same thing. Just a bunch of BS.”

“Maybe they were there, but you just couldn’t see them? It’s not like you knew exactly what to look for.”

“Could be, but I doubt it.”

“Well, what have you got? I haven’t heard any theories come from you.”

As a distant explosion shook the windows, Duke pointed towards one. “Forgive me, but I’m a little distracted right now.” And to further add to the distraction of the moment, Duke’s phone let out a shrill wail. He didn’t recognize the number, but knew today was not a day to be screening his calls. None of his contacts would be working today, not with the world ending, so whoever was calling, had to be important.

“Hello?”

“Duke.” Dr. Adler’s voice floated through his phone, and Duke immediately stiffened. Something was wrong. She wouldn’t call to say everyone was up, and chipper, would she? Nathan would be calling if that was the case.

“What’s wrong?”

“Look, normally this call would go to Nathan, but since he’s…well, you were the only person I thought to call. Audrey’s missing.”

 “What do you mean she’s missing?”

Duke waved his had in James’ direction to get him to back off. He needed to concentrate on what was being said, and couldn’t if James started asking for answers Duke didn’t know just yet.

“I mean, she’s not in her room anymore.”

If he could, Duke would have reached through the phone to throttle Dr. Adler. When you called to say someone was missing, you needed to give more than just the obvious.

“Did you check Nathan’s room? She’s probably making sure he’s ok. Those two are like that, you know. Always putting themselves in danger to make sure the other is safe.”

“We did. Nathan is resting just fine, but Audrey is not there.”

“You’re sure she’s just not in the bathroom or something?” Duke knew he was grasping at straws, but he couldn’t help it. This couldn’t be happening, not now. Was Audrey really that stupid to walk out of the hospital? No, not stupid, but stubborn. Much too stubborn.

“Duke.”

“How could you let this happen? What’s wrong with you? Don’t you have people watching?”

“Duke, the sky is literally falling out there. We barely have enough staff to help the people that are coming in. We definitely don’t have enough people to watch the ones who are already stable. Duke, we need to find her. She needs to be on bedrest right now, or the baby won’t survive.”

Duke could hear the annoyance and concern in Dr. Adler’s voice, but he didn’t care. Because of her, he could very well never see Audrey again. He angrily hung up and turned to James. He had a very strong feeling he knew where Audrey was, and he absolutely did not want to be right. Looking into James’ searching eyes, he drew in a breath. “Audrey’s missing from the hospital.”

Instantly, James came to the same conclusion as Duke. “She went to the Barn.”

“That’s my bet.”

“You need to go get Nathan, and I’m going straight to the Barn. Since the sky is still falling, she obviously hasn’t entered the Barn yet, but we don’t know how much time we have until she does.”

He was hesitant to have James be the one to go after Audrey, but Duke nodded his agreement. He needed to get Nathan, because if Nathan was unconscious and unable to say goodbye to his wife, Duke was fairly certain Nathan would not be able to go on – regardless of having someone who needed him. Someone who needed him – Juliet! As James raced out the door in front of him, Duke stalled in his movement and pulled out his phone, quickly dialing the school. Audrey would likely go see her daughter, so maybe she was there and could be stopped before she gave into her harebrained idea of saving the town.

“Haven Elementary School, how can I help you?”

“Myrna! It’s Duke Crocker. Is Audrey Wuornos at the school by any chance? I uh, I left my wallet in her car, and I’m trying to track down where she is, because you know her, never answering her phone when you need her to.” Duke silently thanked the heavens for living in a small town. Myrna Walker had worked at Haven Elementary since he had gone to school there, and therefore knew every single thing about him, and wouldn’t give a damn about the rules of giving out personal information.

“Little Duke! It’s a crazy day out there today, isn’t it?”

Well, maybe he could get personal information if he could get past her small talk. “Big time. But, can you let me know if you’ve seen Audrey?”

“Audrey, what a wonderful woman. She’s so pretty, and I’m so happy young Nathan was able to meet her. My friends and I saw them on a few of their dates back in the day, and it was so obvious how in love they were with each other. You just don’t see that kind of love anymore. It’s wonderful.”

“Yes, yes, everyone is wonderful.” Duke started grinding his teeth. Normally he loved chatting with Myrna, because as old as she was, she was the sweetest woman alive, but today he didn’t have time. “Audrey?”

“You just missed her. She came to visit Juliet, and talked to her for about 15 minutes. Very unusual for Audrey to come visit, because she’s so busy during the days.”

Audrey had just been there. That was both bad news and good news. The bad news was Audrey was obviously saying her goodbyes, which was utterly heartbreaking. He didn’t even want to think about what the conversation between mother and daughter was like.  Knowing Audrey however, she left her daughter feeling on top of the world, and the little girl would only know the true meaning behind her mother’s words when she was much older and understood the world a little better.

The good news however, was if she had just been at the school, that meant she wasn’t at the Barn yet, and still a ways away from it. Maybe James could get to her in time. “Thank you, Myrna! I think I know where she is then. I’ll talk to you soon!”

Duke hung up before Myrna could close off her conversation. It was rude, but he didn’t have time. He would apologize later. Dialing again as he ran, he prayed James would pick up.

“James! Audrey was just with Juliet. If you move fast enough, you should be able to get to her in time. I’ll get Nathan, and meet you there.”

“Got it. I’m about 30 minutes away.”

Duke could feel cold sweat pouring out of his body as he ran towards his jeep. He needed to get to Nathan, and fast.

\-------------------

At least because of his Trouble, Nathan couldn’t feel it as Duke ripped the IV out of his body. “Nathan, come on buddy, you need to get up. Now.” Duke pushed down some gauze he had stolen on his way in on the IV wounds in Nathan’s arms. He was careful not to let any of Nathan’s blood touch him, because he didn’t want his Trouble to activate.

But on second thought, maybe he needed it to activate. Maybe James really was on to something with his theories. Could Duke stop the Troubles with the help of Audrey? Maybe this was the ultimate time to do it, when they were standing in the shadow of the Barn. But again, he didn’t even know where to start. Would he have to go into the Barn with Audrey? What if it left with both of them in it, or it left with only Audrey being trapped in there? It seemed like too great a risk to willingly allow her to go into the Barn, especially since she was clearly dead set on letting it take her away.

Looking back at Nathan, Duke was suddenly resigned to his decision. As much as he didn’t want his Trouble to activate, Duke knew he had to do it, and as he watched Nathan start to come out of his drug induced slumber, Duke pulled the gauze away from the IV wounds, and watched as small droplets of blood started to seep out. Taking a deep breath, he swiped a finger through the blood.

It took longer this time than it had the first time to feel the surge of power ripple through his body. It could have been because of the lack of blood he took from Nathan, or it could have been because Nathan’s blood was cut with drugs, but after a few brief moments, that distantly familiar rush consumed his body. Every fiber of his being seemed to stand at attention, and Duke felt as though he could crush a car. And he knew without even looking at himself in a mirror, that his eyes were now the color of a glinting knife.

His Trouble was back.

Vaguely, Duke felt his knees crack against the unforgiving floor of Nathan’s hospital room as his high began to wear off, and the world seemed blurry for a few seconds as it fell out of the sharp focus of his Trouble. He shook his head and gripped the side of Nathan’s bed so he could pull himself off the floor. His knees protested the action, but he couldn’t dwell on that now. He needed to focus, and needed to get Nathan up and moving. “Nathan, wake up. We need to get going.”

Duke shook Nathan, even though there was no way Nathan would feel the movement. It was a useless gesture, but one done out of habit. Maybe Nathan’s brain would somehow register the slight movements and force the body to wake up.

“Get up, Nathan! We need to get Audrey.”

At the sound of his wife’s name, Duke could see Nathan stir a little. “Nathan. GET. UP.”

Duke pulled back and started pacing the room. They didn’t have time for this, but he had gone through enough surgeries to understand that the body would wake up on its own time after being drugged. Sometimes it took minutes, sometimes it took longer than minutes. Duke could only hope in Nathan’s case, it would only be a few moments.

And then finally, finally, Nathan started groggily rolling his head side to side. “Audrey.”

“Nathan! Yes, we need to get to Audrey.” Duke took the few quick strides to Nathan’s bed and tugged him into a sitting position. He watched as Nathan’s haunted eyes locked onto his.

“The baby.”

“The baby is fine, Nathan, but Audrey is missing. We need to go find her.” Duke watched as Nathan’s eyes flicked back and forth, like his mind was searching for an answer that wasn’t there, but Nathan made no movement to go. “Nathan, come on.”

“What?”

“Let’s go. We need to stop Audrey.”

“She left?

Nathan’s brain still wasn’t firing on all cylinders, and Duke pulled one of Nathan’s arms over his shoulders so he could help Nathan walk down the hall. They were running out of time to get to Audrey.

“Yes, she’s going to the Barn, Nathan.”

“No.”

Duke could feel Nathan’s body start to shake again, and was immediately concerned about another anxiety attack. Nathan couldn’t falter here, there wasn’t time, and he needed to get to Audrey.

When Duke deposited Nathan in his jeep, he gunned the engine and roared out of the hospital parking lot as quickly as he could – which wasn’t that quickly with the influx of people trying to get in. And driving wasn’t any much better. Accidents littered the road, and as Duke had to wrap around the outskirts of town, there were several sections of the road which were broken, and required some fancy driving to avoid.

Nathan was deadly silent, and Duke could feel the strong weight of anxiety blanketing the car.

“Juliet.”

Nathan’s voice was unexpected, and only added to weight of the situation.

Duke slid a glance over at Nathan, and saw Nathan wasn’t even looking at him. He was looking out the window, watching the sky fall, and his town being destroyed once again.

“She’s fine, she’s at school. Audrey saw her.”

“She said goodbye, didn’t she?”

Duke blew out a breath before answering. “I can’t answer that, Nathan.” He glanced over at Nathan once again, and saw his friend give an almost imperceptible nod. Would this be something Nathan would ever recover from? Duke knew Nathan would put on a face to help Juliet, but inside he would be a broken man, and Duke could only hope Nathan would be able to find some sort of happiness one day. He needed to.

The tires of his jeep crunched and slid along the gravel of the boat yard parking lot, and Nathan was out the door before the jeep even stopped moving. Duke had to move fast so he wasn’t left behind, and barely made it on the boat before Nathan gunned it. As they skimmed across the open water, Duke looked up at the sky above them and noted the meteors were still falling, and were getting bigger and more frequent. Haven didn’t have much more time, but the fact they were still falling meant Audrey hadn’t yet entered the Barn. Maybe, just maybe they would get to her in time. But, then what? What would they do? Nothing had been solved, no fix had been found. There would be no miracle today, and at this point, it only came down to how badly they would be hurt.

\--------------------

As Duke burst out into the clearing, his heart sank, and he could taste the bile rising in his throat, but he didn’t have time to process the taste, or follow through on the act his body was requesting, because a hand clamped down painfully on his arm.

“She’s gone.”

Duke looked over at his friend, and could only imagine what Nathan was feeling, because his heart was shattering, but there was no way it was as bad as whatever was going on inside Nathan. Still, he had to keep up hope. He didn’t believe it, but he had to say it, even if there was no sign of the Barn in front of them. They were too late. “You don’t know that for sure.”

As Nathan turned to Duke with tears running down his cheeks, he said the only thing he could to let Duke know the finality of the situation. “I can feel again. She’s gone.”


	29. Hope

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Totally don’t own these characters, or this world. I just like to be a part of it.
> 
> Author’s Notes: We’re sticking to the future timeline here, kids.
> 
> Alright, here we go! Thank you so much to you all for reading. I hope you all enjoyed reading this as much as I did writing it. I had no idea when I started it that it would go on this long. 
> 
> Thanks as always to my beta, who kept me on track.
> 
> (More notes at the end).
> 
> Here’s the promised Tuesday update!

** Hope **

  
The field in front of him burst into a flurry of light as his girls ran through the tall grass, stirring the lightning bugs which were resting their weary wings. Juliet’s squeals of delight floated through the air, and were mixed with the joyous barks of Peanut, and Audrey’s buoyant laughter. As he walked through the grass in the direction of his family, the smells of wildflowers tickled his nose, and he could almost taste the salt in the air from the humidity of the day. There would more than likely be a storm later tonight, but for now, the world was calm. His senses were alive, and as he walked, he floated his fingers over the tips of the grass, feeling the scratching tickle they produced. But when Audrey ran up to him, and flung her arms around his neck, allowing him to pick her up and twirl her around, pressing her lips to his, _that’s_ what he truly felt. People with all their senses took their life for granted every day, and he was finding the longer his Trouble was gone, the more he was taking for granted as well. But then Audrey would touch him, and his senses felt like they were on fire. It always felt like that first kiss she gave him, where he was dead until she touched him. It was like that every single time he felt her, and he could never imagine giving up that feeling.

When he finally released her, she grabbed his hand, and led him running in the field as the lightning bugs flew around them. He could see Juliet running with her jar trying to catch them, and he knew, absolutely knew, he was in the happiest moment of his life.

\-----------------

The scratching tickle of the grass at his fingertips made him feel like the world was mocking him. And this time as he felt the grass, he was not at all in the happiest moment of his life. No, he was in the worst moment of his life. He was able to feel because the one thing in the world he wanted to feel was gone.

And he didn’t even get to say goodbye.

Nathan was dully aware of Duke prying his fingers from his jacket so he could walk further towards where the Barn had been. Why Duke would want to go out there, he would not understand. What was the point? It was gone. She was gone. The only thing that would be left there would be the deep imprint left in the grass.

It was kind of a metaphor really, for the imprint Audrey had left on his life and heart. The Barn had arrived seemingly out of nowhere, and had stayed for only a short time, changing the lives of those who knew about it, and as quickly as it seemed to arrive, it vanished, leaving only an imprint in the grass where it stood. The grass would eventually grow back, and people who didn’t know any better would walk over it not knowing what was once there. The same could be said for his life and heart. Audrey had arrived seemingly out of nowhere, and had stayed much too short a time, forever changing the lives of those who knew her, leaving an imprint of her time. The imprint would be forever there, but like the grass, it would soon grow over, becoming only a faint reminder, and only for those who truly cared to look.

Duke looked back at Nathan as he moved further into the clearing. He didn’t want to leave Nathan kneeling there, but he needed to go into the field. He needed to see for himself. He needed to see it to make it real. Only then would he allow himself to breakdown. And he would breakdown for a few short moments – hours – then pick himself up, because he would need to pick up Nathan, and would need to go get Juliet from school, and start the process of telling her why her mother wouldn’t be coming home anymore.

Would they tell her the truth? Would her six year old mind be able to comprehend the gravity of the situation? Or would they just tell her the basics, eventually filling in the blanks as she grew older? Or would Nathan start off with a lie, increasing the severity of the lie until he could lie no more to his daughter?

No matter the path, Juliet would be hurt. How could she not? While she would forever be daddy’s girl, she was her momma’s baby. Anyone who saw them together would say they were clones of each other. Juliet had Audrey’s attitude 100%, and was picking up more and more of her mannerisms every day. Now with Audrey gone, would she still continue to grow in the footsteps of her mother? Or would she eventually become more and more her own person, without the constant influence she once had? Would she continue having her love of cupcakes? Would she continue to talk endlessly about something, not caring if anyone was actually listening? Would she focus so completely on something until it was solved that nothing else mattered?

Duke knew without a doubt that Nathan would continue to raise his little girl to the best of his abilities, but it hurt knowing she wouldn’t be able to grow up with the force that is Audrey in her life. She would be in her early 30s the next time she would see her mother, and would more than likely have her own family. Would she still be in Haven? Or would she have hightailed it out of there to start her life in the big city? No, she would stay and take care of her father – just as Nathan had his. It was a Wuornos family trait, for better or for worse.

As he stood on the top of the bluff, overlooking the field, Duke took out his cellphone. He dialed the number he didn’t want to dial, but needed to. When the call went straight to voicemail, Duke clenched his fist in anger.

“Damn it James, what happened? Where the hell are you? How did we get here before you? You really fucked this up, you know? I can’t believe you let Audrey go in the Barn. At this point, you and I are not friends, and never will be. Even if Nathan wants to keep you in his life, that’s fine, but you will never be part of mine. I cannot believe you didn’t get here in time. I knew I shouldn’t have let you come after Audrey. I knew I should have been the one. I’m a smuggler for Christ’s sake. I know better than to trust people, but like some dumb sap, I trusted you, and you burned me. You burned your whole family, James. I can only hope that somehow your conscience catches up to you.”

Duke angrily hung up, and felt the enormity of the situation crashing over him. Everything was gone. She was gone. They had completely, and utterly, failed. He felt his legs give out underneath him, and ended up in a heap on the ground – very similar to Nathan. What had they done in a previous life to deserve something so terrible in this one?

If it weren’t for Juliet, Duke would seriously consider leaving Haven. He had once before, and returned just like everyone else, but for those few years, he was free. He was free of this place, of the curse, of the reminders. And once again, that seemed like the best plan in the world. But he couldn’t leave Juliet. He could never leave her. She needed to have all the support she could around her, and he would always make sure he would be there to provide that to her. Maybe when she was old enough, she would want to take a few years off from life and sail the world with him. Then, he would leave. But even then, he would feel bad for leaving Nathan.

Duke ran a hand through his hair. He would never be able to leave Haven again.

He sat back, and scrubbed his hands over his face, removing the tears which had fallen. He needed to get moving, and needed to check on Nathan. As he shakily stood, turning to head back towards Nathan, a slight movement in the long grass on the other side of the field caught his eye. As he squinted his eyes to try to get a better look, he could see what looked like fabric. What was that? Instantly forgetting his plan to get Nathan, Duke started half walking, half stumbling towards the streak of grey color he was seeing. And as he got closer, it looked like it was a t-shirt. Had James been wearing a t-shirt that morning? He couldn’t remember. Who took stock of what other people were wearing? He must have been wearing it though. He did make it here. Did he get here before Audrey left? What happened?

“James! James, are you ok?”

Duke started moving faster towards James. “James! What happened? Did you see Audrey?” As Duke slid to his knees next to James, his eyes swept down his body, and he quickly took in the fact that James was wearing only a pair of boxers, and those legs weren’t legs of a man, and that hair…. “Audrey!”

Duke pulled on Audrey’s shoulder and rolled her to her back so he could see her face. It was pale, and her eyes were closed, and Duke quickly leaned in to check for a pulse and see if he could feel any air coming from her nose.  “Audrey! Wake up!” Duke turned towards the area where he left Nathan. “Nathan! It’s Audrey!”

Duke turned back towards Audrey, and started lightly slapping her cheek. He needed to get her conscious, and he also needed to get her husband. Looking back and forth between where Nathan was, and the woman in front of him, Duke cursed, and gently laid Audrey’s head back on the ground. “I’ll be right back. Do not die on me.”

With every step, Duke was afraid he was going to trip and fall. What the hell was going on? How was Audrey still here? Where was James? Why was he even questioning this? “Nathan! Nathan!” As Duke ran to where he left Nathan, he could see Nathan still crumpled on the ground. He reached down to haul his friend up, vaguely noting Nathan was fighting him every step of the way. “Nathan, get your ass up. Audrey is out there!”

Nathan looked to Duke with haunting eyes, and spoke in a surreally quiet voice that was laced with anger before he launched a punch, dropping Duke to the ground. “Shut up, Duke. How can you be so cruel? She’s gone.” The pain radiating from his knuckles barely registered over the pain he was feeling in his heart.

Duke swiped his hand over his mouth, and looked down to see blood. It wasn’t a surprising sight with the metallic tang he was already tasting. “Normally there is no way I would let you get a free punch in like that, but we don’t have time to fight. Audrey is down there. You need to get her. I’m going to call for help.” At Nathan’s silence, Duke pointed towards the field. “I wouldn’t lie about this, Nathan. Go. To. Her.”

There was something in Duke’s voice that was able to break through the haze of numbness that had settled over Nathan’s brain. It was ironic, really. His Trouble was gone, so he could once again feel, but he felt numb. His world was shattered, and while he could feel, he couldn’t feel. But why would Duke lie about something like this? Sometimes he lacked empathy for those around him, but he was never cruel. And lying about Audrey still being there was definitely cruel.

With one last look at Duke through tear filled eyes, Nathan took off running. He almost tripped a few times – suddenly being able to feel made his limbs heavier than he was used to – but as he got further into the field, he could see his grey t-shirt fluttering in the breeze and he was fairly positive his heart stopped beating during his last few strides.

He slid on his knees towards her, and it was her. It was Audrey. She was still there.

But she wasn’t moving.

Nathan slid his arms under her body and cradled her close to his chest, rocking her as he would Juliet. He leaned down, touching his forehead to hers, and could feel his tears fall. There were so many questions right now that needed to be answered, but none of them mattered. The only thing that mattered was the woman currently cradled in his arms. He could feel her chest rising and falling, so he knew she was alive, and that’s all that mattered. She had stayed. She was still with him. He didn’t lose her.

“Audrey.”

His voice came out soft and watery. He knew he needed to move – pick her up and get her back to the hospital. In the back of his mind, he remembered Duke saying he was going to call for help, so help was on its way. At this point, all he could do was carry her closer to the edge of the field, but for now – now, he just needed to feel her in his arms. He needed her to wake up and tell him everything was ok.

“Nathan.”

Nathan pulled back slightly when he heard his name, and looked down into the crystal blue eyes of his wife. Seeing her look back at him, he crushed her even closer to his body, and could feel one of her arms limply wrap around him. “I thought I lost you. I thought you were gone. I can feel again, and thought…”

“Nathan.”

The tender moment between the two was shattered by the shouts of who could only be EMTs, and it made Nathan briefly wonder how long they had been sitting there. He looked up when two of the men ran up to him and Audrey, and their voices seemed to be coming from far away. They were telling him to stand aside so they could put Audrey on the gurney they had brought. Nathan shook his head, because there was no way he was letting Audrey out of his arms until absolutely necessary, and besides, she would have to be carried anyways through the field. He wanted to do it. So he stood, holding her in his arms, and reveled in the feeling of her arms wrapping around his neck for support.

They stumbled towards the ambulance, and as Nathan placed her on the gurney inside, she groped for his hands, not wanting to let go. “James. Where’s James?”

Nathan shook his head. Where was James? He had been so focused on Audrey, nothing else had mattered. “I..I don’t know.”

“We need to find him, Nathan. He told me he was going into the Barn. I tried to stop him.”

The rapid screaming of the heart monitor Audrey was wearing distracted Nathan for a moment – just enough for one of the EMT workers to speak. “Sir, we need to give her something to calm her down. Her heart rate is too high.”

Nathan distractedly nodded. “Uh, she’s pregnant, so make sure it’s ok for a baby.”

The EMT nodded and glanced over at the other worker, who started preparing something.

Looking back at Audrey, Nathan settled down into the seat next to her. “It’s ok, Audrey. It’s ok. Let’s get you to the hospital. We’ll talk there.”

As the ambulance took off, Nathan looked out the back window, watching the field disappear in the distance. He couldn’t be sure just yet – not until he learned from Audrey what happened after she left the hospital that morning – but he was fairly sure he could guess.

\-----------------

As Nathan slowly regained consciousness, he was aware of two distinct feelings – one, the absolute crick in his neck, which only comes from sleeping in absolutely the wrong position for much too long, and two, the feeling of delicate fingers fluttering through his hair. Ignoring the crick, Nathan pushed his head closer to the fingers, reveling in the feel of the nails lightly scraping his scalp. He must have fallen asleep with his head on Audrey’s hospital bed while he watched her. Once she was sedated and tests were run, Nathan refused to leave her side, no matter how much the hospital staff tried to convince him to go home and get some rest. By some miracle of god, Audrey was still here, and there was no way he was going to willingly allow her out of his sight for some time. She was just going to have to deal with an extra shadow for a while.

After allowing himself a few moments with the incredible touch, Nathan slowly rotated his head so that it went from his cheek resting on the bed to his chin, and he looked up into the most amazing eyes he had ever seen.

“Hi.”

Smiling despite the pain in his neck, because his heart was flying, Nathan responded. “Hi.” Her fingers were still combing through his hair, and it was glorious.

“You broke Duke’s nose, you know.”

“Yeah, don’t think you don’t owe me a favor because of that.”

Nathan shifted his eyes towards Duke’s voice and raised his head off the bed, grimacing as the pain in his neck shot down his arm. He looked back down at Audrey, and wanted nothing more than to crawl onto the small hospital bed with her, wrapping his long limbs around her small frame just so he could convince himself she was real and safe. But, they had company, so he had to settle with tangling his fingers with hers, and resting them on her stomach. “Sorry about that.”

Duke waved a hand in the air to brush it off. “Yeah, yeah. Glad to see you’re awake though. Audrey and I were starting to think you’d sleep all day.”

Stiffening, Nathan glanced around for a clock. “What time is it? Where’s Juliet?”

Audrey squeezed Nathan’s fingers, bringing his attention back to her. “Juliet’s fine. Mrs. Fleming is watching her and Peanut. Duke thankfully arranged everything for us.”

Duke merely smiled, and nodded back at Nathan when Nathan shot him a nod of thanks.

Licking his lips, Nathan tried to swallow to ease his parched throat. The three of them were in their own private bubble right now, but it needed to be broken. He had to know what happened. The guilt was eating at him already. “What happened out there?” Nathan watched as Audrey and Duke shared a look, and Duke stood from his chair.

“I’m going to leave you two and head back to the Rouge. I told Mrs. Fleming to call me if Juliet needed me.”

In that moment, Nathan realized he had been asleep for far too long. Duke and Audrey must have already talked about what happened, and it hurt a little to know they had discussed it without him. But as he looked at his wife, who was carrying his child, he realized it didn’t matter. He would find out soon enough. “Thank you, Duke. Call us if Juliet needs anything.”

Duke shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. Just make sure to pick her up from school tomorrow afternoon.” He moved towards Audrey, and bent down to kiss her on the forehead, and then moved back and walked out the door, leaving Nathan and Audrey to themselves.

Now that they were alone, Nathan allowed himself to do what he had wanted when he first woke up. He stood from his chair at Audrey’s bedside, and climbed onto the small bed with her. He wrapped his arms around her middle, threw a leg over hers, and rested his head over her heart. He breathed in deeply, and all he could smell was her. She was here, she was safe, she was in his arms. The world wasn’t ok, but for this exact moment, it was.

Audrey knew Nathan needed a few moments to steady himself, and so just stroked his hair as he laid on top of her. Admittedly, she needed this closeness as well, and as she felt his breath puff out against her chest, she couldn’t understand how she could ever have believed leaving him was the best option. It had never been the best option, and it wasn’t this time either. He was her everything, and she should never leave him. The next time, it would be different. It would have to be. And there was going to be a next time, unfortunately.

Licking her lips, she steeled herself for the conversation they had to have. “Nathan.”

“I can hear your heart beating. It’s the most beautiful sound in the world.”

Audrey looked towards the ceiling, willing the tears which had sprung to her eyes not to fall. Nathan, her ever stoic best friend, partner, lover, husband could say the most romantic things, and she was lucky enough to be the only one to hear them. But she couldn’t be distracted now. She needed to get this out. They were already losing time. The countdown had already begun. “Nathan, James is gone.”

“I know.”

The tears were already beginning to fall, but she had to press on. “This morning, I…I couldn’t stay here. I could tell something was wrong, and knew the only way I could fix it was to leave.” Audrey paused as Nathan squeezed her tighter. She knew he wasn’t going to let her out of his sight for the next while. “I…I came to say goodbye, but you were already asleep. I didn’t want to leave you after you…but, I knew I had to. So, I snuck out. I went to see Juliet. I needed to see her one last time. I couldn’t leave without saying goodbye to her. I wanted her to have one last good memory of me. And then, I went to the Barn. James was already there. He told me Duke had sent him, and you and Duke were on your way. I told him I needed to get in the Barn – the meteors were falling so fast already – but he refused to let me go, Nathan. I told him there was no other way, but he said there was. The Barn could take him. I wouldn’t let him do it. I could never allow a child of mine to sacrifice themselves for me. Never. But he said it was the right thing to do. He said there was nothing here for him, but everything was here for me. He told me the day he spent with Juliet had opened his eyes, and that was why he worked so hard with us to try to solve the riddle of the Barn. Apparently all day she talked about how much she loved spending time with you and I, and how you would take her bike riding, and how I would sneak her cupcakes when you weren’t looking. She told him one day she wanted to grow up to be a cop just like us, because we helped people, and she wanted to help people too. She told him we were her best friends. Well, she included Duke and Peanut too.”

Nathan snorted, despite Audrey’s chilling words. Of course his daughter considered Duke her best friend. All the Parkers in his life did.

“James told me he never wanted Juliet to go a day without either one of us, so he devoted himself to helping us end the cycle. But, we couldn’t do it. He thinks we’re getting close, and before he stepped in the Barn, he made me promise we would keep researching so that in 10 years, we can stop it for good. He wants to be able to stay so he can grow up with his sister and new sibling. He wants us to be a family, Nathan.”

Nathan pulled back a bit so he could look up at Audrey, and propped himself up on his elbow. “So what happened? Audrey, I know you. That explanation from James wouldn’t have convinced you to let him go.”

Audrey looked away, unable to look Nathan in the eye. “You’re right, it wasn’t.”

“So what happened?”

She sighed. “They gave me a sedative in the hospital. I kept fighting it off, but I was so tired, Nathan. And as James and I sat in the field together, I couldn’t fight it off anymore. I couldn’t fight it for just five more minutes. Five more minutes, and James wouldn’t have had to sacrifice himself for me.”

The tears began to fall, and her nose started to run. She hated crying, because her nose always ran. But, crying was all she could do right now. Her body had betrayed her, thereby forcing her own son to sacrifice himself so she could continue to live her life. In no way, should that ever happen to a mother, and it was eating her up inside. It made her feel sick. But the weight of her husband next to her, was keeping her grounded. There were people here who needed her, and she would research every single minute of every single day for the next ten years to make sure her family would eventually be whole. It would never be whole without James.

Nathan slid his body up the bed, and pulled Audrey into his arms, holding her as she cried. He could feel her tears soaking his shirt, but he didn’t care. He knew his tears were joining hers. “He’s your son, Audrey, so like Juliet, he’s stubborn like you. He made the decision, and nothing you said or did would have changed his mind. Of course he would sacrifice himself for others. He’s a good man, and I’m proud to call him my son. We’ll fight for him, Audrey. We’ll make sure he stays next time.” As he spoke, Nathan felt sick to his stomach. While the love of his life was still with him, he had still failed. He had lost his son. Again. And he knew Audrey was feeling the same as him. He would fight every single minute, of every single day until they were able to solve the riddle of the Barn, because he wanted his family to be whole, and to be able to live a normal life.

And as he laid in bed with Audrey, holding her close, feeling her breathing even out, he realized that things were eventually going to be ok. And he knew without a doubt, he could solve the riddle of the Barn. He had to. Because resting below his hand, in Audrey’s stomach was one more thing he would fight to protect…another life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N- So, what do you think? Epilogue? Yeah, I think so too... :)


	30. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Totally don’t own these characters, or this world. I just like to be a part of it.
> 
> Author’s Notes: Ok, this is officially it, everyone. Thank you so, so much for jumping on this train with me, and sticking through it all. 
> 
> Thank you to my beta, who made sure I stayed on track. Any other errors are stupidly mine. 
> 
> Also, I have another story idea rattling around inside my brain, but because my beta is starting a new life chapter, I’ll need someone new to help me out. If you’re interested, PM me.
> 
> Again, thanks for reading!

** Epilogue **

  
“Juliet! Would you please hold onto your brother’s hand? He’s not used to the waves yet.”

Audrey’s shouts and subsequent squeals and giggles from children woke Nathan from the doze he was in. Opening his eyes just a crack to shield them from the blinding sun, he could see Audrey leaning forward just slightly from her sitting position on the lounge chair next to him, keeping a watchful eye on their two children. He reached out to squeeze her thigh, causing her to turn and look at him.

“Oh, I’m sorry, Sleeping Beauty. Did I wake you up?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I was just resting my eyes. Come here.” Nathan grabbed Audrey’s hand, and pulled her to him so he could lean up and place a soft kiss on her lips.

Audrey smiled into the kiss, and mumbled against his lips. “Mmmhmm.” Pulling away, she looked back towards her two children again. “Juliet!”

Nathan chuckled, and tugged on Audrey’s hand again, so she was forced to lie down next to him. “Parker, let them play. They’ll be fine.”

As she felt her body falling next to Nathan’s, Audrey put out a hand to push herself away. “Nathan, no. It’s hot, and I’m sweaty. And so are you.”

Not letting her escape, Nathan wrapped his arms around his wife, and nuzzled her neck. “I like you hot and sweaty.”

She could only giggle. He was distracting her. He was always able to distract her. “Nathan, stop, the kids are right there.”

“They can’t hear us.”

Audrey could feel her body start to melt into Nathan’s, and the world was quickly starting to fade away. Her mommy ears were still on high alert, but everything else was no longer an issue. But then, a high pitched wail came from near the water, and Audrey had to sigh. It wasn’t a life threatening wail, but it was one which definitely required her attention.

Nathan smirked and looked deep into Audrey’s eyes. “Just remember where we were with this, because as soon as the kids are asleep, I fully intend on continuing.”

Puffing out a breath to steady herself, Audrey nodded and leaned in for one more quick kiss before climbing off the chair to head towards the water.

“Momma! It wasn’t my fault! Lucas wasn’t paying attention to the waves.”

“I know, I know. Come here, baby boy.”

Nathan listened to Juliet trying to explain off why her baby brother was crying, and watched as Audrey bent down to scoop up the fully drenched and crying two year old. He immediately wrapped his chubby arms around her, and buried his face in her neck. Audrey kept telling Nathan that Lucas was his carbon copy, and he was beginning to think she was right. His son sought comfort through nuzzling Audrey’s neck just like he did. He watched as Audrey was able to shift Lucas to one arm, so that she could wrap her other around Juliet, who was clinging to her side. Juliet was almost ten, and was already starting to gain height on her mother, which made Nathan smile. There were so many nights he and Audrey laid in bed, softly talking about which of their genes and characteristics each child would pick up. Audrey kept saying she hoped both would get Nathan’s height, but Nathan secretly hoped Juliet would stay petite like her mom. He figured she would, because the older she got, the more she looked like Audrey. Lucas was still too young to really determine who he would take after, but his blonde curls definitely came from Audrey. His attitude however, was all Nathan, which is why he was still reluctant to go into the water. He was overly cautious, whereas Juliet would run headstrong into anything and everything – just like her mom.

The Troubles had been dormant for three years now, allowing them to settle into a normal routine, which enabled them to go on vacations such as this one. Nathan wanted to make sure life was as perfect as it could be for his family, because he knew there was an ever present countdown. Audrey had spent her whole pregnancy leave researching the Troubles, and had made some significant headway. No one had ever put in that much time before, (no one had the time to), but she seemed to be onto something. He had no doubt that when the ten year countdown was up, she would have an answer.

Once in a while, when Juliet and Lucas were staying on the Rouge with Duke, Nathan and Audrey would gather up their notes and files, order burgers and beers from the Gull, and head upstairs to her old apartment, spreading everything out in front of the sofa so they could eat and read, and bounce ideas off one another, just as they had done when they first met.

Every now and then, Nathan would mention they should stop paying Duke rent for the place, but it always seemed to come in handy, and Audrey argued Juliet would want to live there one day. Nathan couldn’t disagree. The older Juliet was getting, the closer she was growing to Duke, and he fully imagined she would eventually move from above the Gull to her own boat. Why anyone would want to live on a boat, he didn’t know, but knowing her, she would.

“Momma, when we get home, can I stay with Uncle Duke and Aunty Jennifer for a night? And by myself. I don’t want Lucas there.”

Juliet’s voice interrupted Nathan’s thoughts, and he grinned. That kid. Once the Troubles disappeared again, Duke started hanging out with a new woman in town, and to the utter shock of Nathan, actually settled down with her. Jennifer wasn’t exactly a fan of the Rouge, but moved in with Duke anyways. Thankfully, she was just in love with Juliet as was Duke, so didn’t mind the little girl constantly hanging around. But, Juliet hated giving up her spot as the only Wuornos on the Rouge, so always begged to go without her little brother. And with the way Lucas was already following Juliet around everywhere, and ratting her out whenever he could, Nathan knew without a doubt Juliet was making sure Lucas wasn’t aware of the poker games happening on the boat which Nathan wasn’t supposed to know about. Lucas would definitely tell his parents.

Maybe he was a clone of Nathan.

Audrey never seemed to care about the supposed non-existent poker games – and would tell Nathan if it gave Juliet enough money to pay for her own stuff, that was good enough for her. Sometimes it still shocked Nathan how un-cop-like his wife was.

The trio of blondes made their way towards Nathan, and Lucas started squirming once he saw his daddy. Audrey put the little boy down so he could run and climb up onto Nathan’s lap, soaking Nathan in the process. “What happened, buddy?”

“Water scary.”

“The water isn’t scary, bud.”

When Lucas just nodded, Nathan tried again. “You just need to get back out there.”

“Daddy come?”

“Are you sure you don’t want to go with Juliet? Mommy and I were talking about something.”

Lucas pulled back from his daddy and shook a finger in Nathan’s face. “No, no Juliet. Daddy.”

Nathan heard the distinct snort of his wife come from beside him, and turned to look at her. “You don’t want to finish that discussion?”

Audrey lifted her eyebrows high, a grin spreading across her face. “I sure do, but I think it’ll be better later tonight.”

“What were you and Daddy talking about?”

Audrey looked down into Juliet’s eyes. “Nothing, baby girl. Just grown up talk. Why don’t you and I go get some drinks while Daddy takes Lucas out in the water?”

Juliet started bouncing on her feet. “Ok! Can I get a hot dog too? Please, Momma?”

“Sure, let’s see what they have.” Audrey leaned down to give Nathan a quick kiss on the lips. “We’ll be back, Daddy. Lucas, you look after Daddy, ok?”

“Ok!”

Audrey moved her lips to her little boy’s lips and was awarded with a sloppy kiss. Straightening, she put her hand on Juliet’s shoulders. “Come on, baby girl. Let’s go.”

As they started walking, Audrey turned to watch Nathan run across the sand, Lucas bouncing in his arms and giggling widely as they crashed into the water. She could hear her baby’s squeals even from this distance, and it made her smile.

They had all gone through so much together, and while things definitely weren’t perfect, they were making the most of it. And one day, their whole family would be together. The line at the walk up pool bar shuffled forward, and Audrey glanced down at the bracelet on her wrist. There was definitely something to be said for an all-inclusive resort. It made ordering food so much easier. Finally, she made it to the front, and rattled off her drink order.

“Momma, don’t forget my hot dog!”

Rolling her eyes, Audrey added a hot dog to their order, and started to move to the side so the next person in line could order. As she was keeping a watchful eye on the bartender to make sure he got her drink right, she swore she could hear Juliet’s voice. Just as she was going to turn to check, she felt herself being lifted into strong arms she knew very well.

“You sure, Juliet?”

“Yes, Daddy!”

Audrey saw a quick glimpse of Juliet holding Lucas before Nathan turned and started running to the water. Just like Lucas before her, she was bouncing in Nathan’s arms and giggling. “Nathan, no!” She knew where this was going to end up. She could hear Juliet laughing, and then all too soon she was flying through the air, only to meet the cool water of the ocean. When she broke the surface, those strong arms wrapped around her, and as she wiped the water out of her eyes, she looked into the deep blue eyes of her husband. “Mean.”

“But, fun.”

She couldn’t help her grin. It was fun. Looking over to the beach, Audrey could see Juliet settle Lucas down on their lounge chair, and clear the table for the drinks and food the waiter was now dropping off. Looking back at Nathan, she leaned in for a kiss as they bobbed up and down in the water. “Definitely fun.”


End file.
